Reconcile
by Amongst-Azarath
Summary: Robin, now known as Nightwing, has found himself in a mess that's bigger than him. He tries to enlist his ex-teams mates to help. However, he finds himself falling for an ex team mate on the job, who happens to be taken. Robin/Nightwing/Raven/Red X.
1. Discovered

_Howdy :),_

_It's been a good five years since I've posted some Teen Titans stuff, besides the other day. I came across the beginning of this little piece this morning and decided to add to it._

_Low and behold, a new Teen Titans Story._

_I'm not sure how it went, but I'll leave that for you to figure out :). Please, R and R :)._

_**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of it!_

_P.S: Robin is called a bazillion different things in this, well, more like 3. So please bear with me, until I get comfortable with calling him the same name._

**_Full Summary: _**_Robin, now known as Nightwing, has found himself in a mess that's bigger than he's willing to admit. On a quest to find his old team mates, he hopes to reconcile their differences in order to clean up this mess. However, he finds himself falling for an ex team mate, who happens to be taken. Robin-Nightwing/Raven/Red X._

**_Enjoy!_**

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><p><strong><em>Reconcile<em>**

_Chapter One: Discovered_

A strong hand softly slid down the small crevasse between her soft and squidgy breasts. Soft and smooth, skin that was as pale as porcelain. Deep brown eyes met purple ones and ecstatic smiles were exchanged. Suddenly warm lips pressed against the skin covering her sternum. She slowly let her head fall backwards, vertebrae by vertebrae. Her eye lids slid shut and a light gasp of air escaped her as the wetness of his tongue was now touching her skin. Time moved in slow motion. She could feel his lips slowly, inch by inch moving closer to the nape of her neck. She could only imagine the sly smile tugging at his lips and the ravenous passion he was holding back. He was rough and she loved it. The way he could switch from soft and gentle to rough and pounding within a moment excited her to no end. He was spontaneous and that was something she didn't possess. She craved the way in which he lived his life.

His lips were now just under her jawline, threatening to attack. Without warning, the lips moved downward, sucking the precious and sensitive skin at the top of her black jeans. She was startled, and flinched slightly as the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She could feel his anticipation. He wanted to fuck her bad – and she loved it. She loved the way they switched the power roles. He made her feel like she was the queen of the world by the way he adored her. However, the surprise when he would quickly snatch back the power made her swoon like a groupie over a rock star.

"Mmmm," he moaned dark and low, from underneath her jaw. His hands were up and down her back, gripping at her skin tightly.

Her delicate hand roughly brushed through his dirty blonde tresses and that only amped him up more. The kisses became more frequent and more aggressive. His hands reached for the top button of those gorgeous black jeans, but that move was short lived. The black aura of her telekinetic power surrounded his strong hands. He struggled against it, but still kissing that beautiful soft and supple skin of her lower hip. She chuckled, as she took the power from him once again. She opened her eyes and looked down at him with that sultry face. His eyes widened, feeling that hot and heaviness grow within him. _Fuck, she was such a turn on._ He moaned as sucked on the precious skin above that damned black fabric that was blocking his strongest desire.

In a surprise attack, his body was thrust backward onto the black sheets. Her warm body was now on him. She grinded her hips against his.

"Fuck!" He growled, feeling her hands touch that bubbled skin of his chest. His hands went straight for her arse and he gripped both cheeks tightly.

Her soft finger tips swiftly followed the demented skin. It was bubbled, raised and warped – into the shape of a giant asymmetrical X. Her lips dived onto his abs, creating this incredible silhouette that reminded him of a lioness ripping apart her prey.

"Jesus!" He almost shouted, as his hands wrapped around her waist.

Suddenly she stopped, as if she were struck by some magical force. She pushed his raging hands away and rolled off the chiselled man into a cross-legged position.

"Babe?" he called softly afraid that he had done something wrong. He pulled himself up a little and let his body weight rest on his elbows.

She frowned. "Someone's here."

There was a knock at the door.

He let the big drops of water hit his face. There was no point in blocking the rain now. He was already getting wet. His brow knitted together in anxiety. He hoped that this was the right place. _Well,_ he considered as he looked at up at five story old school brick building, _he had nothing to lose._

He stepped under the cover of the small canopy above the door. He pressed his shoulder against the glass door and it swung open. He stepped inside onto the polished floorboards. He took a moment to gather himself, well, mentally anyway, physically he looked awful, thanks to the rain and there was nothing that could be done about it. _Shit._ His mind wondered. _What the fuck would she say? _He hadn't seen her – let alone talked to her in five years. Would she still be the same? Have the same bleak outlook on life… That same striking face… Those same purple eyes – he paused. _Fuck._

"Jesus Christ," he cursed out loud this time.

Why did he feel so guilty? Why did he feel like the bad guy? The dead beat loser. The kid that had no friends. Why did he feel exactly the way his mentor had felt? He looked down, ashamed, suddenly realising what he had become, someone he tried so hard not to be. Somewhere inside, he was still asking if there might be a small chance that she might have the compassion in her to help an old friend. That's why he was here, wasn't it?

He needed her help. This whole mess was bigger than him. Bigger than he could have ever imagined. And, for the first time in his life he recognised he needed help. If he couldn't solve it when he was younger with a whole team backing him, what made him think he had any chance of solving it now, alone? He smirked. For first time in his life – the notorious Nightwing was asking for help, the kid who was raised to rely on no one but himself. _Thanks,_ he mentally thanked his mentor sarcastically.

He found himself at the brown door number 3. _Now or never, Dick, _he told himself.

He raised a matured hand and knocked his knuckle against the thick wood three times. He listened. Little movement. Hardly any sound. Silence.

His eyes searched the door urgently. All he wanted was for it to open, to reveal that same face. Yet, at the same time he wanted it to stay shut – to prove that everything in his life was right and – the chain shifted.

_Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. _His eyes widened, actually scared of what might happen after the moment that door opened. _Stop it! _He ordered to himself.

The bolt unlocked and he swallowed.

It quickly swung open and he was greeted with the face that turned his world upside down. Fair skin, purple eyes, perfectly shaped brows, long purple hair – there was a few loud shatters of glass and all the lights went out. He smiled a little, at least he knew a little of Raven he used to know was still inside. She still got scared.

His muscled frame hit the wall with a loud thud. He gasped, losing some air from his lungs. He tried to suck in a breath as a strong hand gripped his wrist and twisted it the opposite way it was supposed to go. The pain shot down his arm and he let out a huff in response. An elbow and shoulder grinded right into his back and his face was pressed against the cold plastered wall that was originally behind him. The elbow dug deeper as his arm was twisted upwards slightly. He let out a small yelp of pain as the tip of the elbow caught a pressure point between his muscles. This guy was trained, slightly out of practise, but trained none the less.

"Who are you?" A male voice growled into the young mans ear.

"Jase," the woman called softly, a little further away.

The lights came back on, adding a dim light to the situation. The three figures were now revealed. "Jase, let go," she called again, calm.

The male removed his weight from the other man, and slowly released his grip. The dirty blonde stepped back beside and slightly in front of the woman, apprehensive.

The man stretched his back and jiggled his shoulders. His ocean blues eyes caught her purple ones. His touched his wrist tentatively and locked eyes with the brown orbs next to her. They slightly frowned at each other.

"Richard," the word slipped from her mouth breathlessly.

The brown orbs dropped the frown they were holding. _He knows? _Dick asked himself. He smiled suddenly. At least she said his name. She kept her gaze on him. His eyes switched from hers to the males, and then back again. The silence was making him feel uneasy. His mind was screaming at him to just go, but his legs wouldn't budge. Both of their eyes were on him, completely entranced, yet also unsure of where to go from here. No one was making any moves and it was getting past awkward now. A minute or two must have passed by now.

He decided to follow his head. He felt the pain in his wrist grow as he turned quickly and began his rushed, embarrassed, disappointed and melancholy walk to the door. Shit, he didn't know what to feel. Suddenly all those emotions were removed. Emptiness suddenly filled the void, well didn't fill it really, it made a void to be more correct. His mind was tangled in a clutter – he felt a strange feeling come over him, he stopped in his tracks. Against his own will he turned to face the two adults still standing at the entrance of the apartment.

"Come in," Her voice echoed through the silence, bouncing off the walls of the dead apartment block.

She vanished, but the male, 'Jase', as she had called him, still stood there, eyeing him off hesitantly. Dick cautiously made his way back to the door. He looked at 'Jase', who didn't have a shirt on, and who was slightly ripped in the abdomen department. 'Jase' didn't move. Dick bit his lip as he slid past the man, slightly taller than him, but of the same build. _He was a tough cookie._

He almost smiled as he took a quick glance around the apartment. It was so her. So Raven. It was decorated though, not as gothic as he remembered her room to be. That 'Jase', obviously had some input in the design. Dark floor boards covered the cement floor, whilst black and white tiles decorated the kitchen, from what he could see. They had kept the old brick work for the walls, variously decorated with very old style paintings that were of her genre. It was decorated with modern furniture, black leather couches, a sleek 80 inch plasma television, a white shag rug, glass dining table and very stainless steel and sleek kitchen. He hadn't picked Raven for a modern type. He assumed it was this 'Jase' character again.

She was already sitting at the glass dining table, he eyes looking intently at him. He slowly and graciously made his way past the lounge and to the table to sit opposite her. Jase had shut the door and followed him in, only to sit at the head of the table.

It was time for him to make this less awkward. "Raven," he smiled, looking directly at her.

She smiled too. "It's been a long time, Dick," she commented.

He nodded as that guilty feeling chewed away at him. It had been way too long. Five years to be exact. Five years since he had seen, talked or heard from her. The team hadn't exactly split up on the best of terms.

"It has," he agreed. "Your place is.. gorgeous," he had trouble finding the right words, as he took another quick look at the apartment.

She kept the smile. "Thanks," She replied genuinely.

He wondered how she could afford such a generous place. He didn't mean for it to sound like that. She did receive a generous pay out when the Titans did eventually split, but he couldn't image her spending all her money to buy, he supposed, as it seemed as if she did decorate it herself, and custom design an upper suburb apartment. She looked to Jase, who looked.. still hesitant.

He had to admit, her partner was rather attractive – for a male. He didn't like to sound gay, but this man was visually pleasing. He had dirty blonde hair which was rather shaggy and deep brown eyes that were quite serious for a man of his age, which was young, Dick guessed again. He had a strong, wide set jaw, with chiselled cheek bones that created a small shadowed hollow on either side of his jaw.

He turned his attention back to her. His face was blank as he stared at her. She had grown, somewhat, since he had last seen her. Her hair was longer and darker than he expected, and was slightly messy, cascading over one shoulder. She was still pale, but not that sickly pale that he remembered her for. She looked more beautiful than he ever remembered too.

She raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to explain his presence, or to at least say something. Dick licked his lips. "I'm sorry," he blurted out, trying to somehow explain himself for what happened in the past.

She obviously didn't take to the apology as her face was still blank. She wasn't sure herself if she was ready to forgive what happened when the Titans crumbled. A lot of things were said and done that were impossible to take back or erase. That's why she came here, with _him._ Suddenly remembering as if _he_ was there she looked at the blonde, and smiled a little.

"Robi-" she stopped and frowned. She couldn't believe she still had that habit. It had been five years and she still couldn't call him by his real name.

A small tugged at his lips, it made him want to laugh, but he decided against it. "It's Nightwing now," he said stiffly, "but please call me, Dick."

She smiled to herself. She could remember him talking about a new costume and a whole new superhero five years ago. She remembered his goofy designs that continued to make him look like a damn traffic light. She was proud to admit that she had a hand in designing the final 'Nightwing' costume.

_He scrunched up another piece of perfectly good paper and tossed it behind him. He sighed in frustration. She almost chuckled at the way he obsessed over stupid things. She failed to contain the chuckle to herself._

_He turned his head to face her, a frown on his face. "What are you laughing at?" He questioned her commandingly._

_She stopped the laughter, but left the smile. "You trying to design a new costume for yourself," she stated, amused._

_Her smile lightened him up a bit. He dropped the frown. "I think I outgrew this outfit a long time ago," he admitted with a sigh, deciding it was time to give his new found non-creative fashion design skills a rest for the night._

"_What made you think that?" She questioned sarcastically, with an obviously fake frown on her face._

_He smiled, knowing the whole team disliked his costume design. "I think the Traffic colours went out of fashion about 10 years ago," he replied quickly with a light and joking tone._

_She suddenly appeared beside him. "I don't think they ever came_ in_ fashion, Robin," she mused sarcastically again. They both chuckled, agreeing._

_She looked over his shoulder at the design he had just recently penned on the paper in front of him. "You can't get away from the colours can you?" She commented almost disbelievingly._

_He snatched the scribbled on piece of paper and scrunched it up again in his hand. "Don't look at my designs," he said, suddenly defensive._

_She looked at him, entertained by his childhood antics. "You're like a little child," she commented with a sigh. A black aura surrounded his hand with the battered piece of paper in it. Unwillingly, he uncurled his hand and the design spread out across the table in front of the two. _

"_Don't.." he trailed off self-conscious, as he watched her gaze at the design._

_She put her hands on the paper, staring engrossingly at it. "I think you just need to…" she began, deep in thought. "Make this black," suddenly what was originally red was black, "and this, a darker blue," the small designed shape was now a dark royal blue. "And no cape," she insisted slowly, as if she were talking to a child. The cape vanished._

"_Wow."_

The memory brought a small tugging smile to the edge of her lips. "Dick," she began properly, correcting her smile, "This is Jason…" she thought about saying the next part, but she wasn't sure. If she didn't say it, Jason would get offended, but then Robin might get a little… "My boyfriend," she blurted out. Too late.

He already guessed that, considering they lived in the same apartment and he had no shirt on. It didn't affect him _too_ much, less than he thought it would. _That was a lie_, he admitted, noticing the mixed bag of emotions that was now filling him.

"Nice to meet you," Robin tried to be genuinely nice, but it might have failed – he wasn't sure. He nodded in Jason's direction, and put a hand out over the table.

"You too," Jason replied with the same nod, and a firm handshake. He could feel the muscles in the man's hands; nice and tight and firm. There was another meaning behind that handshake, and Dick knew it. Little did Dick know who Jason really was.

He turned his attention back to Raven. "I know it's been… a very long time," he began, a little frightened of what the response might be, "but I need your help."


	2. Revealed

_I'm so sorry! It's a little later than I expected it to be. I had a few troubles with some ideas that took the story in different directions, so I had to rewrite some things. So beware of some continuity errors... and errors in general._

_Anyway, thank you to all my beautiful reviewers, Luna Dragana, TheMaskedShuppeteer, Psych101 and Rayne Nightingale :). Much appreciated! I tried to reply to some, but fanfic said no._

_For future reference, '888' will refer to a change of time or place, etc, as my stars or slashes fail to appear, which I discovered after I posted the first chapter._

_On with the next Chapter._

_Please! Read and review!_

_Disclaimer: Don't own it._

**_Enjoy!_**

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><p><strong><em>Reconcile<em>**

_Chapter two: Revealed_

Her brows dropped into a frown, creating creases on her forehead. "Need my help with what?" She quizzed, confused.

He looked to Jason, who had an eyebrow raised. "Does he know?" Dick inquired, motioning to the blonde. Raven nodded. "Everything?" he asked again, looking a little uncomfortable. He hoped she hadn't told him everything.

"Everything," the couple chorused together. Dick felt even more uncomfortable, if that was possible. The couple looked at each other for a brief moment, exchanging a quick, almost unnoticeable smile.

Dick blinked, a little surprised at their 'coupliness'. He never expected Raven to be like that, _at all_. He swallowed, unsure of how to even bring up the subject. He licked his lips and brought a hand to play with his tousled mane. He dropped her gaze for a moment. This was much harder than he had planned for it to be. He considered that not making eye contact would make it somewhat easier.

"Dick, spit it out," she commanded, louder than she probably should've, but by his startled look to her, she seemed to have got the point across.

"Slade."

Her face slid to blank as the room fell silent. Dick dropped his eyes again. He thought it would be something they never would've had to deal with again. He was 100% certain that the villain had died. However, things were popping up all over Jump city with his name written all over it. Especially that suit with the – he looked to Jason. Even he looked slightly shaken. The blonde looked to his girlfriend. She didn't look at anyone; she just kept her eyes on the glass table. Jason bit his lip and got to his feet. He retreated to the kitchen, which Dick thought was a little dramatic, but each to their own.

Something in her gut changed. She felt a twinge of nausea at the pit of her stomach. It was an odd feeling that she hadn't connected with in a few years. It wasn't a good feeling. Definitely not a good feeling.

She looked directly at Dick. "How do you know?" She asked strongly. There was a loud crack of thunder.

He tilted his head to the side. "It's happened a few times," he began slowly, running another hand through his locks. "I was down at the docks answering an emergency call the first time," He looked to the left, as if remembering, "I'm not even sure what he took," he leaned back on the matching glass chair uncomfortably. He heard the kettle begin to boil. "It was a kid dressed in.. almost the exact copy of the suit Slade gave me."

Raven sucked in a breath. He could see her licking her teeth; slowly mauling it over in her mind. She was taking it rather well. "Are you sure?" she asked, bringing her hands together into a kind of clasped position.

Dick nodded. "He has almost the exact same fighting style."

Raven's hands began to fidget, nervous. "Have you seen him, though?" She raised both of her eyebrows. She was trying to be calm. Key word, tyring.

"Not yet," Dick replied, and she seemed to sink into her chair, relieved.

"So it might not be him," she countered, thinking realistically. She caught his eyes. He didn't look comforted by her comment.

"I thought he died," Jason suddenly entered the conversation, with two mugs. One, a black coffee and he guessed the other was an herbal tea. "Would you like a coffee, Dick?" Jason asked, putting an unusually long pause before he spoke the younger man's name. He almost called him Robin. _Awkward._

Dick looked at him, taken aback for a moment and then shook his head. The blonde took his seat, keeping his eyes on Dick. Jason took a sip of his coffee, trying to forget that he had even made that comment. Dick's eyes were still on him. _Shit_, Jason said to himself as he rested the cup on the glass.

"He did die," Raven confirmed as if suddenly remembering, grabbing both of their attentions. Jason sent her a _'thank you'_ mentally.

Robin nodded, his eyes now on her. His sight dropped to the black bowl on the glass table to his left. How come he hadn't noticed that before? His mind switched back to Slade. It had been so long ago. It was a painful memory not only for him, but all the Titans. His own obsession with the archenemy had pulled the team apart. The memory of the night suddenly came flooding back, after years of repression. He almost forgot it happened.

"You killed him."

_888_

_Robin watched as Slade swung a foot into the alien's stomach, knocking her back. He then launched forward, landing a super strength punch to her face, knocking her back, down and out. Unconscious._

"_Starfire!" Beast Boy yelled, heading for the unmoving body._

_Robin watched as random objects covered with black magic hit the masked man. He was hit sideways, and flung into the brick wall a few hundred metres beside him. _

_Robin was dizzy, to say the least, and it was getting worse. They were getting their arses kicked by one man. One fucking man. He took a deep breath in and a sharp pain jabbed the side of his ribs. He moaned, grabbing left side of his rib cage. His body was aching from head to toe. He couldn't possibly imagine how the others were feeling._

"_ROBIN!" He heard Raven scream at the top of her lungs._

_He looked up, breaking his train of thought, just in time to see her get whacked in the side of the head by Slade's bo staff. He leaped in the air; barely missing Cyborg's shot of power from his arm cannon. Robin's face fell into shock as the beam powered straight under Slade and hit Raven, flinging her backwards into the brick wall where Slade just was._

_Robin got to his feet as Beast Boy dived in as an eagle, and then suddenly changed, hitting Slade at full pelt as a Chinese Panda. They crashed into the ground, leaving Slade silent and unmoving for a moment. Suddenly, Beast Boy, the Panda, was flung over the edge of the building. Cyborg, distracted, shot a beam from his arm once again, watching Beast Boy suddenly return to the roof top as the eagle. Slade took advantage of the distraction, leaping to Cyborg and shoving his bo staff up the entrance of his cannon. _

_Cyborg let out a painful scream, collapsing to the ground._

_A black aura surrounded Slade. He was lifted into the air and suddenly dropped, a large bulk of black covered concrete followed shortly after, landing right on his chest. Raven stood at the edge of the roof, concentrating. _

_Robin's face looked in bewilderment as he could see the crack in Slade's armour, right down the middle of his chest. It was only small, probably about 7cm gash._

_Robin suddenly clicked; Raven and the others had been delivering hefty enough blows to hopefully bust his armour, which they did. _

_Surprised, but not distracted, Robin got to his feet with a stumble. Robin launched his bo staff. He crashed the staff into the cement and, using his upper body strength, swung off it, using it as momentum. He pulled his small sword from his belt and pulled it above his head. As he crashed into Slade, he stabbed the sword through the small crack in the armour. _

_Slade's eye was beyond surprised. Slow motion kicked in. Slade began to fall backwards, taking Robin with him. As they fell backwards, a high satisfaction came over the young adult, until he realised where they were falling. Over the edge of the 42 story office building. Slade's eye then turned to a smile, if it were possible, as he saw Robin's face turn to horror. They were falling into the ocean. _

_Everything that Robin possibly cared for flashed before his eyes. _His team. _This could finally be the end for him. This could be his last moment alive, and he spent it fighting with his team, fighting with the Titans. The way it should be. He gave Slade a smile as the wind began whipping through his hair. There couldn't be a better way to die._

_A black aura surrounded him, pulling him upwards. Slade slipped from his grip and kept falling. As he slowly ascended, he watched Slade crash into the sea._

_888_

It was as if the two strangely remembered the last part at the same time. "He fell into the sea," Dick concluded suddenly, a little shocked. "Who knows what could've actually happened to him," He insisted quickly, his anxiety pulsing through.

"How could he survive a sword to the chest and a 42 story fall into the sea?" Raven looked at him in disbelief. "That's just not possible," she reasoned with him, shaking her head.

The young man moved his jaw from side to side, creating a sort of pout with him lips. "Anything's possible, Raven," he warned, "You, of all people should remember that," He raised an eyebrow and sent her a small smile that said, 'remember?'

She sighed. He was talking about all that business with her father years and years ago. She nodded. That situation was _really_ impossible. There was nothing not more impossible than that, and they made it possible. They all did, the Titans. She had forgotten how close they really were before the falling out.

"And now you think he's got an apprentice?" She asked suddenly, picking up the mug of herbal tea.

Robin nodded. He let out a breath through his pursed lips. He just realised how shit this situation was. Slade was going to be more powerful than ever, if it really was him. He now had a professionally trained assistant, a whole truckload of new technology available to him and a plan that only he and his minions knew about. That new assistant of his was something else. He was trained in all the same arts as Robin, and was highly skilled in all of those areas too. He was somewhat older than what Dick was during his apprenticeship, probably only a few years behind Dick himself now.

Raven, slightly overwhelmed, closed her eyes for a moment. Dick only hoped that she didn't think this was a lame and desperate plan to bring the team back together. He would never ask for their help unless he.. desperately needed it, like right now. He scribbled out that idea and changed his mind. He hoped that she wouldn't say no.

She opened her eyes again, looking at him, obviously unsure. "I need your help, Raven," He insisted, trying to persuade her. There was another loud rumble of thunder.

She raised an eyebrow. "You seemed to handle him perfectly fine by yourself last time," she made a sly jab sarcastically as she grabbed her cup and headed for the kitchen. Dick dropped his eyes, ashamed and Jason looked uneasily at the old friend. The blonde didn't realise how much tension there really was behind that smooth and cool front that they seemed to have had all those years ago.

He could hear her dump the mug into the sink. That kind of hit home a little for Dick. What would happen now? Was she just going to kick him out of her apartment? Was she not even going to care of what would happen to her old home town? What was he going to do? If Raven wouldn't help him… who would? _Did she not care about what would happen to him?_

She was back at the table, standing now. "You want to bring the Titans back together?" She asked stoically. She crossed her arms, thinking.

He nodded. "Just for now…" he added, trailing off.

She nodded too, still thinking. "What if they don't want to get back together?" She quizzed again in the same tone.

Dick pressed his lips together. He suddenly felt a little disappointed, dejected too. He dropped his gaze, losing his momentum. She used 'they'. She didn't want to reunite with the Titans. He wasn't surprised to be honest. She had a whole new life here. He bit his lip. She had a boyfriend now. She was finally happy. He didn't want to take that away after the life she'd had. He would never ask her to do that, ever.

He shrugged. "I hadn't got that far yet," he replied flatly. He was losing hope.

"You do realise you'd be digging up a fuckload of unresolved issues?" She asked again, still stoic.

He closed his eyes. _Shittttt._ He really hadn't thought this over too well. Even if they did get back together – they certainly wouldn't get along. Well. They wouldn't get along with him. He was pretty sure everyone despised him when the team split. He said some things he hadn't meant to at the time. A few of them were to the young woman sitting in front of him. He was thankful she even let him into her apartment.

"Even if they did agree, where would we stay?" He wished she would just stop. He got the picture. She didn't want to join the team.

"Where would we find them?"

He sprung his head up, about to say his goodbyes and leave as fast as he could out that door and into the thunderstorm. He was met with a smile. A full-on grin; teeth showing and all. Dick looked to Jason who was struggling to hold back a chuckle.

He was confused for a second. It then clicked. His brain had missed a beat, and fair enough after five years! It was sarcasim. "You'll help?" He quickly asked, completely surprised.

"Then there's the point of them actually agreeing.." He forgot how dry her sense of humour really was.

"Raven!" He called, a little impatient with her sarcastic answer to his serious offer. She stopped, her mouth moving into a small curve. She didn't say anything. "You'll help me?"

She blinked, the smile still faintly there. "Just for now…" she reiterated what he had said before in the same tone. They both smiled at each other.

_888_

The couple could hear the shower begin in the bathroom. The gushing water created a soothing background noise. It was safe for them to talk aloud now.

He watched her reach for his mug and begin her journey to the sleek kitchen. "I presume he's staying the night?" He smirked, watching her walk to the kitchen with the mug in hand.

She looked back at him and nodded, setting the mug on the bench. "I hope you don't mind."

He shook his head, following her to the kitchen. "No, no. It's pretty fucking wild outside. I wouldn't be sending him all the way back to Jump in that," he agreed honestly, noting the occasional crack of thunder.

"When do you leave?" He asked, wrapping his hands around her tiny waist.

"Tomorrow." A sudden flicker of lightning flashed through the already lit room.

"Tomorrow?" He reiterated, stunned. "That's a bit.. soon," he managed to say, fumbling his words. He used his hands around her waist to turn her to face him.

She gave him an apologetic look. "I know," she began, touching his well-developed forearms, "but if it really is Slade…" she trailed off. He got the picture. He knew what the man was like, from all the stories and memories. Ruthless came to mind. "I'd ask you to come, but-"

"Nah, babe," he cut her off with a grin. "I get it," he kissed her soft lips quickly, "It's a Titans thing." She let her head fall back slightly. With his height, she could still see him pretty clearly. She gazed at his face. She grinned at his charming smile. "That little under the table job will keep me busy while you're away," he winked, pressing his lips to hers.

She rolled her eyes as he pushed his tongue into her mouth. He broke away instantly, seeing her less than impressed face. She looked a little startled by his sudden break away. "Just don't do anything I wouldn't," he warned jokingly, grabbing the mug from where she had left it.

She scoffed, following him to the counter. "That gives me some big boundaries then," she retorted, a smirk playing softly on her pale face.

He dumped the mug into the sink. _So true_, he agreed. He wasn't exactly the prime example of the most moral human being around. He had probably done almost everything under the sun. Well, pretty much everything that the Teen Titans stood _against_. Raven knew of his past and reputation. She knew all the crimes he had committed. _And still commit_, he reminded himself. He had never expected her, of all people, to be so understanding. Especially being fresh from fighting crime and all evil with the Titans.

He let out a deep chuckle as he washed the mug with some hot water. "I almost called him, kid." The memory flashed through his mind.

She pulled open the dishwasher and put a hand out for him to place the mug in. "You just about freaked him out when you told him you knew Slade had died," she added, giving him a cautious look.

He placed red mug in her hand and raised his eyebrows. "Hey, I haven't seen him in a long time," He tried to defend himself as dropped the orange sponge onto the side of the sink. "Can't expect me to keep my cool on a surprise visit," he added sensibly, motioning behind him to the bathroom.

She carefully placed the mug amongst their own kind before shutting the dishwasher. She pressed a button near the top of the bench and the whirling sound of water could be heard.

The blonde was leaning against the sink, watching her. She looked down as a heavy blush came to her cheeks. He grinned. She looked up and rolled her eyes. The blush faded from her face and so did the smile. She had gotten serious all of a sudden. She grabbed his hand and pulled him close.

"He can never know who you are," she spoke in a low tone.

His brows knitted together, confused. "Why?"

She looked at him as if it were obvious. "He just can't know, Jase," she said, softly, rubbing his arm. To be horribly honest, it would break his heart. He was alone enough as it is, he didn't need to know that she was dating one of his enemies. He had this angelic view of her, she knew, and she didn't want to taint it.

He put his forehead to hers, which he had to bend his knees a little to do. He sighed, as if it were an exhausting effort and then smiled. "I'll keep it a secret, I promise," he vowed whole heartedly, giving her a peck on the forehead.

She looked down, happily protected in his grip. She noticed his scar. "You should probably put a shirt on," she mentioned with a sly smile.

He looked down, unsure of what she meant. "Oh," he suddenly realised what she was looking at. "I was just getting prepared," he put his arms out innocently before winking sensually at her.

She giggled lightly, pushing him away. "Go and put a shirt on!" She instructed, still laughing.

He stopped, raising his eyebrows. "Only if we finish what we started."

Her eyes widened, and then turned sexy. "Later," she whispered, blowing him a kiss.

A large smile grew on his lips, flashing his pearly whites. "I'm holding you to it!" He called back, pointing at her as he wondered into the room behind the kitchen.

She looked to the bathroom door. A sick feeling her in her stomach had been rousing ever since he mentioned Slade. She realised that this time, it was going to be completely different, and not in a good way. She dropped her head and reached for the refrigerator door.

_888_

The themed brick walls had been kept in the guest room as well. However, there was a small indent in the brickwork on the opposite wall to the door, enough for vase with a few flowers to fit in. The beds head was pressed up to the back wall and was decorated with an enticing white, black and red quilt cover. A matching set of that consisted of two white side tables and a vanity where the only other furniture that adorned the room. Again, gothic art covered the brickwork.

"Do you need anything else?" She asked, standing in the door frame a little awkwardly.

Dick looked back at her, a beaming smile on his face. "This is beautiful, Rae," he remarked softly, about the guest room. He kept his eyes on her.

"God, I haven't been called that in years," she replied, nostalgic maybe?

He frowned, "What… _Rae_?" He questioned sceptically.

She nodded, leaning against the door frame. A look of deep thought, or concentration swept over her face. "You're different, Rae," he mentioned suddenly. He wasn't sure whether that was to seek her attention or was meant for his most inner thoughts, but it came out anyway.

She gave him a puzzled look. "Different?" She repeated what he had just said with an upward inflection, creating a question. He nodded, eyeing her off. "In a good or bad way?" She asked, surprising him.

"Good," he answered too quickly, raising both eyebrows to make sure she knew he was being honest. "Definitely good," he agreed with his first comment, but it was a little softer, and more direct this time.

She nodded her head slowly, accepting the comment. "Well," she looked at the clock on the opposite wall, "Goodnight, Dick." She turned to leave and began her descent back down the hall.

He leaped to the door. "Rae!" He called to her.

She turned, slightly agitated, but not angry. "What?" She answered blankly.

"You look beautiful." _Whoa._

She was silent… and startled too. She looked at him, bewildered. She had no idea what to say. Richard Grayson had just called her beautiful. What was she supposed to say? She had a boyfriend, who was at the opposite end of the house. However, something inside her felt a little nostalgic for the past, for the times when they would sit up late at night talking until the wee hours of the morning. All those memories of the two were now swimming through her mind. He could hardly distinguish when they occurred. She had a sudden urge to make her way back to the guest room and take a seat on his bed. She longed for those hours of talking, silence, laughter and even the tears. She just realised. She had missed Robin much more than she'd realised.

He could see she was having a little trouble finding the words to reply to the sudden compliment he had just given her. She had gone into her own world as her face flicked into focus mode. He gave a saddened smiled. "Night Rae," he said softly, reaching for the door. He kept his eyes on her until he closed the door, leaving Raven, still speechless, in the hall.


	3. Beginning

_I'm getting so good with this updating shit. Am I right? _

_Haha, anyway! Thanks to my reviewers once again! I'm totally feeling the love right now. StarryCassandra, i'm so hollow, TheMaskedShuppeteer, TheDreamChaser, BloodySnowyHeart, RXRFannnnn (I counted those n's like 5 times, haha) and Luna Dragana, super crazy thanks to you all for your bitchin' reviews. I tried to reply to some of your reviews, but again, fanfic said no :(._

_I'm not sure what went on with this chapter. I'm not entirely happy with it, but it's here now. _

_I just realised too, I haven't been describing Dick's eyes at all. I wasn't sure to put a mask on him or not. I decided he has a mask on.. now. I might go and fix that up later. _

_I thought I should also mention, I totally gave Robin a sword. Coolest shit ever. Random fact, did you know he has only used that twice. Both in episodes dealing with Raven's past ;). _

_Enough with the ramble, time for the chapter!_

**_Disclaimer: Don't own it._**

_Please read, review and enjoy. **Including those people that are just favouring and alerting. I like reviews! And I like you. So review :). **_

* * *

><p><strong><em>Reconcile<em>**

_Chapter Three: Beginning_

"Jase," she cooed softly in his ear, trying to avoid a startled wake up.

"Mmm?" He moaned. He suddenly took in a deep breath and his body extended, giving himself a morning stretch. His lids slowly opened, and then blinked a few times, clearing the sleep from his eyes. He then brought his hands to his face, massaging the muscles behind the skin. He propped himself up on his elbow.

She gave him a sad smile. He looked so tired by the deep circles under his eyes. "Sorry," she apologised, taking a seat next to him on the bed.

"No," he blinked again, trying to clear his blurry vision, "it's okay, Sunshine." She smiled at his use of her 'pet' name. He stilled used it, seven years later. He looked directly at her with 20/20 vision. "What's the time?" He asked, sitting himself up fully and resting his arms on his knees.

"Ten to six."

"Ah," he closed his eyes, "I see," he let out a deep chuckle. He was taking the rude wakeup call rather well, despite this being his usual bed time. But then again, he was a light sleeper. "You two leaving?" He asked, hanging his feet over the bed. She nodded, raising a hand to brush through his tousled mane. He smiled. "I'll walk you out," he yawned, getting to his feet.

She followed him soon after. A swift hand grabbed the silver handle and pulled the wooden door open. He turned to her suddenly. She looked at him, puzzled at his sudden pausing. His eyes were no longer filled with sleep and a dreamlike glass, they were solemn now. She noted the iris' were particularly dull today, an unimportant green, far from the normal bright olive green they usually were.

"When will you be back?" He asked her. He was very still.

She stepped to him, grabbing one of his hands with both of hers. "I don't know," she replied softly. She pulled the hand to her face, and pressed it to her cheek.

He nodded. "I'll miss you." His voice was so soft, gentle and serious. He wasn't the type to be so still and emotive. He was so arrogant, cheeky and always moving. The juxtaposed picture of her boyfriend in front of her left her somewhat speechless. She loved these moments as much as she hated them. It made her want to lay in his arms all day, or take her clothes off and run around naked with him. And yes, she did just think that. They gotten so comfortable with each other, that were naked.. a lot. Actually, Jason was already comfortable, freely exposing his attractively nude frame to her on their third date. She wanted this moment to pass, it was making her feel so guilty.

But, shit, she could stand here all day.

"I'll miss you too," she replied, wrapping her arms around the strong frame.

"I love you," he whispered into her ear, sending a long and startling shiver down her spine.

She smiled. "I love you too." Fuck it, she loved it when he was like this. She loved when he was sappily romantic. She loved being in love, loved being loved. She thought she was never capable of ever being in love with someone. She used to think it was impossible to love her. She surprised herself. She found someone. He changed all of that. It was a long process, she would admit, the many tiresome hours of simply trying to get her to laugh. He made her feel so – she felt something wet on her neck. She could feel him sucking her skin. He was attempting to give her a hickey.

"Jason!" She pulled out of his grip and away from the wet and slimy tongue. She touched the wet spot on the nape of her neck. Her face flinched at the feeling of the sucked, wet skin.

He was grinning from ear to ear. "You're getting me all hot and heavy, sunshine, I couldn't help myself."

Just like that he was back to the old Jason. She tried to hide the smile that was tugging at her lips, but she failed. He winked at her, and she replied with a roll of the eyes. He reached for the door handle again, swiftly pushing it down and pulling open the black wooden door. He motioned for her to go first, and she slipped through the frame. He left the door open behind him as he followed the raven haired woman through the kitchen, but not before making a detour past the kettle. He flicked the switch and leaped to catch up with his lover.

Dick was standing at the door, all ready to go. He was dressed darkly in a pair of dark wash denim jeans and patterned white shirt. "Morning," Jason nodded in Dick's direction as the couple met with the man at the door.

"Morning," Dick replied exactly the same, a quick nod.

The blonde grabbed the Raven haired woman's hands. "Just give me a text when you get in," he said softly, bringing her closer to him. She nodded, suddenly feeling very awkwardly conscious in front of her ex-team mate. Jason could feel it too, but he pushed through, pressing his lips to hers. Through the connection, Raven could feel the slight jealously rushing through her lover. It made her smile a little. Sometimes she still couldn't believe she snagged such a kind, charming, beautiful, loving and loyal man. His livelihood didn't exactly fit her description, but she looked past that. The kiss broke and she stepped back. She mentally reassured him, _I'll be fine._

"Bye Jase," she said softly, reaching for the apartment door.

The blonde looked to the dark haired man. "Look after her," he warned in a low growl.

As she stepped into the hall, Dick nodded, giving him a little salute. He felt like 16 year old kid taking a chick to the prom and her dad was giving him the 'lecture'. As the door slid shut behind the old Titans, Dick caught sight of the miserable scar covering the blonde's abdominal area. He frowned, gently flicking over the image in his head again. The door shut with a click.

_888_

"This is nice." She was talking about the car. A 300S Chrysler. She slid her hand along the leather seat.

He looked at her with a teethy smile. "Yeah," he nodded in agreement, "Bruce bought it for me." She nodded. She should've guessed, knowing what Robin was like with gift giving, why should the mentor be any different?

"And then you bought him a Ferrari?" She raised her eyebrow and smirked at him.

He chuckled. "A Maserati, actually," he corrected her, playing the matching smirk.

She laughed a little, before settling into the silence. It was comforting actually. She had forgotten how nice it actually was to just sit and drive. She had forgotten how _nice_ it was with _him_. It had always been like this during the old Titan days. It was either full on conversation, or complete silence. They had both opted for silence this time, considering they hadn't talked in five years. It was going to be hard to get over what was said in the past.

Neither Titan wanted tip the scale. Neither wanted to upset the other, but both knew they needed to talk about it. They needed to talk about all of it, everything that happened before the team split. At the time, the words had hurt, but looking back, they were only words. That's all Raven could picture them as. They had no connection to her anymore, no pain, no guilt, just no feeling at all. She felt guilty for leaving, she genuinely did. She didn't want to, but everyone had grown apart. They were no longer teenagers; they were young adults trying to find their places in the world. Their place obviously wasn't fighting crime in the form of the Titans.

Would it be like it used to be? Would that bond that they had created still be there? Would they even get along? All these question brushed through both of their minds. Dick kept his eyes on the road. He was unsure how this trip was going to be. It was a good day and half trip to their next destination. That would mean they would have to stay somewhere for the night, which Robin had already planned. The room would already be open for their late night arrival. It would mean entertaining each other for a good 36 hours. Eight of those were for sleep. Actually, Dick changed that to four. If Raven was still the same old Raven, he knew she was a bit of an insomniac when it came to the night time, like him.

She seemed a lot more emotional now. That wasn't the right word. More open? He nodded to himself. She did seem more open. She smiled a lot more than he remembered, and she laughed too. And she found herself a man. He licked his dry lips. Yeah, she had found herself someone to love, and someone who loved her. Dick was still a bachelor. He brain turned back around to Raven and Jason. His mind repeated the images that he had seen of the two. Mm, they looked alright together, he admitted, but he still wasn't the right fit for her. There was something not right about the two. _Hang on_, he reminded himself. There was something that wasn't right about Jason. He couldn't put his finger on it, but the man just seemed, too much a manly boyfriend. That really didn't make sense. No one was ever squeaky clean. Ever. There was something behind him, and he knew it. He didn't seem good enough for her. It seemed that she was batting below her league.

Raven took a glance at the dark haired man. He was deep in thought, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. He had changed. The hair was now much longer, down to his ears or maybe even chin. She couldn't really tell as he had his hair in a ponytail. He was much more well defined too, taller, muscly and stronger. She could feel his loneliness suddenly. She dropped her gaze. Without the Titans in Jump City, Dick really had no one. He had friends in other cities, but knowing him, they would've hardly talked besides their weekly reviews. It was just him. Him and crime anyway. She wondered how he kept himself sane. She could imagine how obsessive he was now about his work. He had no one to question him anymore. She looked up at him again. He was very lonely.

He could feel her looking at him, and his emotions. He hadn't forgotten what that had felt like. He knew she couldn't help it. They were just kind of there, in front of her, it was kind of hard to ignore. He wondered what vibe he was giving off. She wasn't prying into his thoughts, at least. He looked at her suddenly.

"How long have you and Jason been together?" he inquired curiously before turning his eyes back to the road.

Her eyes opened wider for moment, as if she was pulled from her deep thoughts. "Three and bit years."

Holy fuck. Three years. _Well, doh, they do live together_, he reminded himself. Raven with Jason for three years. His curiosity was getting the better of him.

"What does he do?" He asked again, trying to speak casually.

Pause. Dick raised an eyebrow. "He dabbles in a few things," she began, shaking her head a little, as if trying to remember them all, "Mainly with I.T and Science." Well that didn't make him any less curious. That was such a vague answer, which was fair enough considering he had never met the man before last night and that he hadn't talked to Raven in so long. But that pause.

"How did you two meet?" He pushed on.

She sucked in a breath, remembering. She hadn't told the old fake coffee shop story in a while. The real story was way too dramatic, bloody and revealing for everyone but the couples own ears. "I was getting an herbal tea at a coffee place in Jump," she began, a smile coming to her face, but she was thinking of something else, he knew it. "I was waiting to pick up my tea, and Jason had grabbed his coffee and just happened to turn, in too much a hurry, into me and spill his coffee all over me," she rolled her eyes.

_888_

_She rolled over for the 13__th__ time in the last five minutes. The constant jingling of the keys outside in the hall way was getting to her, and the faint mumble of a swear word. She wished the stupid idiot would just fucking find his room key. _

_Jingle._

_Jingle, jingle. "Fuckin' hell!"_

_Jingle._

_She mumbled her own string of swear words as she pushed the doona back and swung her feet over the edge of the mattress. In a huff she got to her feet and practically stormed to her apartment door. She pulled it open, with probably too much force as it hit the wall with a slam. She stepped into the dimly lit hall. She was in her black silk nighty, and she did not care. She took a look around. _

_To her left was a man, blonde hair, green eyes and very attractive fumbling his keys to the room next to hers. He looked at her, freaked out._

"_Do you mind?" She asked, between the lines of agitated and irate._

_Her words seemed to ease him. He smirked. "No." He continued jiggling his keys._

_Her brows knitted together. She was getting furious. She heard the elevator bing from the end of the hall way. The man's eyes turned frantic and so had his movements. She looked intently at him for a moment, puzzled. He seemed to be having trouble inserting the key into the hole. He was cautious with his wrist. He then tried to use both hands. He flinched suddenly and dropped the keys onto the brown carpet below. _

_She raised an eyebrow. He had obviously hurt his hand and being the hero, oh that one made her chuckle, that she was, and out of her need for sleep, she reached down and picked the keys up before he could even think. "Let me help," she insisted, stepping closer to him. She pushed the key into the lock and turned it. She pushed the door and it swung open. _

_He smiled at her, thankful. He was even more attractive when he smiled. "Thanks Angel," he whispered, taking a step into the apartment. The light caught something near his thigh. It flashed directly in her eye and she noted the limp he had developed. Her eyes widened in horror. Was that what she thought it was? What had happened to him?_

"_Excuse me," she called, trying to get his attention to get a better look at him._

_He turned. Her eyes doubled their size. Holy fuck. There was a kitchen sized stainless steel knife sticking out from his upper thigh. "Jesus!" She almost shouted, putting both of her hands to her mouth._

_His hand reached out and grabbed her silky nighty. He yanked her into the room and the slammed the door shut._

_888_

That was totally close to grabbing coffee. "It started all from there." He knew that whole story was a lie.

He had many more questions lined up, but she suddenly took charge. "What about you, Dick? Got a special someone?" She turned the subject on him. She was curious too. She wanted to see if he had actually ended up with someone. He hadn't mentioned her yet, if there was one, so she presumed he hadn't gotten himself a partner. Actually, she was surprised he hadn't ended up with Kori. She was always googly over him and was always checking up on him, even when the two birds were confidentially talking.

He shrugged as a blush came about his cheeks. Clearly embarrassed, he coughed. "Ah, no," he started, "I mean, I've dated a few people, but it didn't work out." Awkward.

She nodded. He was definitely lonely.

888

"Dick," she cooed lightly, reaching for his arm. She touched his hand on the gear stick.

Her touch made him shiver to attention. "What?" He almost jumped. His eyes wondered back and forth between her and the road. He had forgotten how that felt. Someone touching him. Someone that wasn't evil or a stranger. Her touch was so familiar. Comforting.

She smiled nervously. "I think we should stop," she motioned to him, "You're looking a little tired." She tried to be as suggestive as possible. She didn't need him getting all antsy before they even got to the rest of the team. After all, he was driving a little recklessly.

He pursed his lips. He wasn't tired. He swerved a little. He frowned suddenly. Maybe he was. As he thought about it, he realised, he actually wasn't paying attention to the road at all. He noticed his speed and pulled his foot off the accelerator. He was too busy thinking, making sure everything was going to plan, making sure that he was in complete control. He smiled. Yet, he wasn't in control. This somehow felt like a metaphor to him. He smiled at that thought. He liked being in control, he knew it, everyone knew it. He jerked the steering wheel to the side and pulled off on to the gravel on the side of the road. If there ever was a time to change, it was now. If he was going to working in a team again. He had to learn to let someone else take the reins. If anyone was going to be taking the reins, it would be Raven.

She looked at him with a confused look. He reached for the door handle. He grinned. "Wanna drive?"

He swung open the door and slid out. He shut the car door and made his way around the back of the car. What was he doing? He was going to let her drive. He was going to let her drive his super high powered V8 car that was probably worth well over 100,000 grand. The door popped open beside her and there stood Dick. He was still grinning. He put his hand out to her. She stared wide eyed at it.

"You want me to drive the car that Bruce Wayne gave you?" She asked him as slowly as possible, just in case he had gotten his wires crossed.

He chuckled. "Yep."

Without thinking, she grabbed the hand. She could trust him before, why couldn't she trust him now? It was like she had forgotten a whole five minutes because she was now sitting behind the steering wheel.

_888_

She looked over at Dick as she pulled back on the accelerator. They were finally coming into their destination for the night. He was out like a light. A nostalgic smile greeted her face. It suddenly felt like it used to be. The late nights and working into the early morning. Many cups of cold coffees and herbal teas. Papers scattered all over the couch with the computer screen boring into her eyes. Robin would be fast asleep on the couch with a paper pad in his hand and a pen that had fallen from his grip and landed softly next to her.

"Turn right here," The GPS instructed blankly.

To think she used to sound like that. No wonder they hadn't trusted her to begin with. She gave them nothing and they gave her everything. She turned the wheel and directed the car into the driveway. He trusted her most of all. She gave Robin a quick look.

"You have arrived at your destination," The GPS announced, not terribly enthused.

She switched the fucking thing off.

She watched as the numbers on the apartment doors ranged from 1 to – "37," she noticed and turned the wheel again, pulling up right out the front. A couple of bushes decorated the front garden with a stone path up to the Red door. It looked pretty decent. Dick had probably booked some expensive joint that was nowhere near necessary for what they needed for one night. It was just a one night stay. A bed and shower was sufficient enough.

She pushed the small stick into first gear and pulled the hand break up. She reached for the keys and turned them to the left. The sudden halt in movement was enough to wake the young man.

"Hm?" he questioned, suddenly coming to life. He was already on high alert, ready to go.

She smirked at his quick adjustment to the situation. "We're here, Dick," she spoke almost sarcastically, pointing to the apartment in front of them.

He looked out the front windshield. "Oh." Silence. He looked at her. "You're a good driver, Raven," he complimented out of the blue. The door opened and he had already slipped out. She frowned. He was being oddly.. not Dick, but Dick at the same time.

She reached for the handle on the car door and tugged at it. The door swung open and she stepped the closest foot onto the cement. _No,_ she corrected. He was being the Dick she knew, not the crazy and control freak Dick that she last remembered. She got to her feet and pushed the door shut behind her. She could hear the wheels of suitcases being dragged along the concrete. She stepped away from the car, watching the dark haired man wheel both of their suitcases to the apartment door. He had his hands full so she mentally opened the door.

He looked back at her. _Oh_. She looked away. That felt weird. _What was that?_ She pressed down on the lock button on Dick's set of keys. She headed for the apartment. Her mind wondered as she stepped on the stoney path. This felt so strange all of a sudden. She stepped into the apartment – and he had done it again.

He had paid way more than he needed to for a stunning apartment. A simple white base covered the walls and dark boards covered the floor. A dark brown lounge suit decorated the entrance with a large plasma television. Behind it, there was a matching dark oak dining table, followed by a dark oak matching kitchen. The stairs beside her obviously led to sleeping area, which Dick had already made home to by the bumping above her. She glided up the stairs, agitated and appreciative, at the same time that he had paid so much just for a simple night. She was met with the matching image of down stairs. Two queen beds sat opposite each other, both dark oak, but covered with crisp white linen.

"Dick," she called, seeing the light pouring from the bathroom to the left.

He poked his head out. "Yeah Rae?" He replied. Maskless.

Shit. She was stunned for a moment. She hadn't seen that in a long time. Those eyes completed his face. From the many gazes she had taken of him in the last 24 hours, they no longer existed. He was a little bit more than attractive now, he was beautiful. Those deep blue eyes completed his whole look. Tall, dark and handsome was an understatement. How had he not found himself a partner? He looked like a man now. There no was no teenage roundness to his face anymore. It was well chiselled and defined. He had both of his jet black eyebrows raised at her, but she was still taking it all in. He face was so strong and prominent. It was well structured, if you could say that about a face. But those eyes, a deep blue just like the ocean. She was just so taken by how much he had changed.

"Raven?" he called again, a little louder this time.

She shook her head. "Oh," she snapped herself out of it. "Um, I just wanted…" she trailed, trying to find the thought she had just been thinking of. But nothing was coming to mind except those beautiful blue eyes. "Just…" he was so beautiful and her mind kept repeating it. He was looking at her strangely. The thought slammed back into her head. "Ask why you got this beautiful apartment for one night," she asked incredulously, "it must have cost you a fortune," she added. _Wow, good save Raven, not. _

He stepped into the room. Shirtless. _Fucking hell Dick_, she mentally shouted at herself. He smiled. "I have a fortune to spend, remember?" He headed for the suitcase beside the furthest bed from the bathroom. _Woah. Woah. Woah. He had a tattoo?_

He looked back at her. "And why not?" He shrugged, "it's not often I see you."


	4. Broken

_Disclaimer: Don't own the babes in this story._

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><p><strong><em>Reconcile<em>**

_Chapter four: Broken._

There was too much coming at her at one time. One, he had a tattoo. Two, he just implied that he had shelled out a fair chunk of change for this room because it was her. Three. He had no mask on. Four. He was shirtless. _Stop_, she reminded herself. Whoops, now she was blushing. Shit. Shit. Her eyes were racing back and forth between the roof, his eyes, his chest and floor. It was big and blue and that was all that was registering in her brain.

He started laughing, realising he had obviously overwhelmed her. "I'll put a shirt on." He slipped a black shirt over his head, hiding his naked and tattooed upper half. Was it the Nightwing logo?

Suddenly her wits came back to her. "You have a tattoo?" She quizzed, stepping closer. She was still surprised.

He looked at her. He could see she was intrigued. He got to his feet. "I have a few," he said slyly.

She raised both of her eyebrows. "I would never have expected you to appreciate the art," she headed for the bathroom.

He laughed. "That's what Bruce said," she heard him reply from the other room.

She grabbed the face washer, and brought it to the sink. "I thought he would've ripped you a new arsehole," she smirked, turning the tap on. She put the fabric underneath the water and watched it soak up the liquid.

Dick appeared, with those blue eyes. He grabbed something from his toiletry bag sitting beside the sink. She didn't notice as she was too caught up in his eyes. "He did." And he slipped out again.

She shut the door behind him, trying to shut out the image of his blue eyes. Jason suddenly raced through her mind. Shit, she had forgotten to text him. She reached for the handle and opened the door again. She made for her bed, leaning over the edge of the mattress to reach for her hand bag that she had conveniently plopped in the middle of the bed. Dick caught eye of something he would never have expected either, he wasn't the only one with art on his body. As her jeans ducked and her shirt rose, a beautiful image of a black Raven covered the pale skin. It was rather becoming on her. He noted the two pieces of string on either side of her upper hip, just poking out of her jeans. He didn't realise she was a one for a G-string either. She searched through the bag, soon finding her iPhone. She stood up straight, watching the screen come to life.

_Hey Jay,_

_Here all safe and sound. Miss you and love you. _

_Sunshine._

Sent. She tossed the phone back on the bed. She turned, he was right behind her, a smirk gracing his face. "I'm not the only one inked," he commented, motioning to her back.

Her eyes widened in surprise realising that her stupid low rise skinny jeans had revealed the piece of art. She hadn't expected such a warming response.

She smiled. "Maybe." She escaped back into the bathroom.

She turned, lifting the back of her shirt up to reveal the pitch black tattoo of a raven, spreading it's wings as though it was about to fly, heading straight for the sky. Her face turned blank, dropping all of its emotion. A blush of embarrassment flushed her cheeks. Her G-string was poking out too. She closed her eyes. She took in a deep breath and slowly let it out through her pursed lips. He had just seen Raven's aftermath of her late rebellion. Her love of G-strings and tattoos. She reached for the wet face washer and tried to continue what she had failed to even begin. She pressed the cold fabric to her face. She gently massaged the soaked fabric over her face, trying to forget what just happened. She then realised she had forgotten to grab her pyjama's from her suitcase. With a sigh, she plopped the fabric back into the sink and went for the door.

She slipped into the dark room. Robin had propped himself up against the headboard of his bed. He had his lap top in his lap. "Your boyfriend replied," he smirked, teasingly.

"Thanks, Dick," she responded with a roll of her eyes. He grinned.

She swiped the iPhone off the bed. She slid a soft finger across the screen.

_Thanks Angel._

_Miss you and love you too._

_X_

She smiled, pressing the middle button and locking the phone. Pyjama's. That's right. She had almost forgotten what she came out here for. With a quick movement, the zip of her suitcase had opened and she grabbed her black silk cameo and matching shorts that she had conveniently placed on top of everything else. She flipped the case shut and headed for the bathroom again.

She slid through the crack and shut the door behind her.

Lethargically, she placed the pyjama set on the counter in front and yanked her black shirt over her head and dropped it on the tiled floor below. She reached with both hands for the back of her bra, unclipping it. The bra dropped to the floor and her breasts sat perfectly perky on their own. She reached for cameo and slipped it over her head. It hung low. She looked in the mirror. Very low. A nice image of her cleavage, that Jason would've appreciated, was being shown.

She dropped her sight to her black denim jeans, going for the top button. With a quick flick the button and zip were undone and she was shimmying the tight fabric from her frame. She stepped out the crumbled pile of clothes and yank off her g string. She swiped the shorts from the counter and stepped a leg through each hole before pulling them up to sit low on her hips.

She looked in the mirror again. Eugh, she forgot how skimpy these PJ's were. She made a mental note to buy new Pyjama's when she got to Jump City. She bent down and snatched her dirty clothing into her hands. She quickly turned and lunged for the door handle. She tugged it open and reached to flick the light off.

Dick's face was lit up by the screen in front, looking rather serious. She dumped her old clothes into her suit case and shifted it to the floor beside her bed.

Dick looked up, watching her round to the right of the bed and toss back the covers. He couldn't see all that well with the lack of light, but he managed to take a glimpse of not only another tattoo, but another _two_. His eyes widened slightly, impressed. There was a passage on the inside of her upper right arm and what looked like some sort of feather dancing across her left shoulder blade. They were suddenly hidden from sight, underneath the stark white doona. She caught him looking at her. He didn't want to look like he was secretly spying on her, so he smiled.

She returned it, before letting her head flop onto the pillow. "Night, Dick," she called from across the room.

His eyes stayed on her. "Night, Raven."

888

_The stars were so beautiful. They were just so bright. They ingeniously decorated the sky, making it almost impossible to look away. So stunning. She couldn't stop looking. They were so stark against the black night. She hadn't looked at the stars in such a long time._

_The slow fade in of clunking machines was starting to distract from her perfect view. She couldn't actually pin point when the music had decided to come in, but it was all she could concentrate on. It was like the clunking had been mixed by a DJ. A brainwashed club dancer would've probably loved it. _

_Slightly frustrated with the noise, she tore her eyes away from the gorgeous stars. She sort of expected the sight, but the other half of her was still surprised. In the distance of the ever dancing stars, a wafting fog was approaching. Suddenly it was clouding at her feet. _

_A figured appeared in the distance, masked by the fog. It was coming towards her, slowly. The stars were sliding into the background, almost fading into the fog. It was probably one of the most magnificent images she had ever seen. It was so simple, but so inviting. She stepped forward, so intrigued by the figure. _

_She could make out the build of the figure. A man. Definitely. She could tell by that perfect triangular shape of his chest. Tall, very tall. He was also well built, not to big, but nowhere near what one would classify as weedy. He was close now. A wave of relief crashed over her. She knew who it was by those two white slashes of fabric across his chest._

_X._

_He was so close she could almost reach out and touch him. A smile appeared on her face._

_His mask slid downwards from his face, almost as if it had melted off, like an ice cream in a cone on a hot summer's day. It revealed those stunning green eyes and that gorgeous smile that had captured her in the beginning._

_The smile dropped from her face._

_The edge of knife poked its way through his black suit covering his abdomen. His face dropped all expression. It was like he was dead. Blood exploded from the wound, dripping down his black uniform and disappearing into the fog._

_She launched for the man, but a black glove groped her around the waist and pulled her backwards. _

_888_

The young woman launched herself upright. Her breath was caught in her chest. She pushed it out. She took a panicked look around the dark room. _It was okay_, she calmed herself. She was still at the hotel with Dick. Nothing had happened.

What the fuck was that? The image of the blood oozing from his stomach flashed in her mind. Her breath quickened as it kept flashing over and over.

"Raven?"

The image vanished from her mind. She looked over at the bed opposite her. She cleared her throat, trying to catch her breath. "Yes?" She asked.

She felt something wet against her forehead. She quickly raised a hand to touch it. Sweat. "Are you alright?" The deep voice quizzed softly.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Yeah," she began, trying to control her breaths. "Just had a bad dream." Her Pyjama's felt damp. She touched her back tentatively. Sweat.

Dick moved beneath the sheet. "You sure you're alright?" He asked again, looking at the clock on his bedside table. 2.56am. He blinked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she reassured him, touching her chest. More sweat.

Disgusted, she pushed back the thin sheet covering her. She must've kicked the covers off in her sleep. Her bare feet touched the soft carpet. Her eyes had adjusted to dark, enabling her to safely make it to the bathroom.

She flicked the light on and went for the sink.

Dick flinched as the light from the bathroom flooded into the bedroom. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the sudden change in lighting. When his vision cleared, he could see her washing her face in the basin. The light was shining off her skin and the edge of her hairline was noticeably wet. He watched as she looked at herself in the mirror, taking in her tired eyes and clammy complexion. She reached for a crisp white towel hanging on the hand rail behind her. She wiped it across her face and then her chest. She was obviously a little shaken.

Dick suddenly noticed that he was sweating too. Why hadn't put the air con on? Yeah, he mentally spoke to himself. He slid out from underneath the sheets and he reached for the remote that was now visible to him on the wall beside his bed.

"What are you doing?" He flicked his head to look at her. She was standing in the frame of the bathroom door, blocking some of the flooding light. That silky black pyjama set she had on was rather revealing, he hadn't really noticed last night. Those shorts were really short; it was nothing he hadn't seen before, considering what she used to wear back with the Titans.

He raised an eyebrow, turning back to her. "Turning on the air con," he replied, grabbing the remote with his right hand. He looked back to see her reaction – she seemed very jumpy. _A bare midriff_ - that surprised him and a bit of cleavage too. That surprised him even more.

"Oh." She dropped her gaze and sunk into her own thoughts.

So did he. This felt a little like Déjà vu. They were almost in this exact same position in the last fight at the Titan tower.

_I_

"_Cyborg's gone," she looked at him, clearly stressed._

"_So?" He snapped._

"_Don't you care?" She retorted with venom._

_He looked at her, agitated. "Do you want to go too?" He asked bluntly. She just looked at him, stunned. "Then go," he started, motioning to the door._

"_Are you really going to be like that?" She scoffed in disbelief._

"_Be like what?" He shouted, heading straight for her. "An arsehole?" He spat. Before she could even speak, he was already in her personal space. "Go on Raven, call me an arsehole like everyone else has."_

"_Richard," she spoke softly, trying to calm the situation._

"_Go on Raven," he growled condescendingly. "I can do without you, I can do without all of you," he began, taking a step backwards, "you were nothing but –_

_I_

He stopped the memory.

"I'm sorry," he blurted out softly.

She looked at him, absurdly content. It seemed as if a barrier had broken. She wasn't sure if it was him or her, but she could _feel_ him now. She hadn't felt this bombarded by Dick's emotions in a long time. Something inside her knew what he was talking about. She felt it too. There was such a deep guilt residing in him. She realised he had learnt his lesson the hard way. He wanted to work alone, and that was exactly what he got.

He was so deep in that emotional state; she couldn't really define what it was though. He seemed to be scanning over old memories. Dick suddenly found himself wallowing in what had happened in the past. What he did was beyond cruel, he knew. He had butchered his friends, enough for them not to come back for more, and when they didn't come back he had finally realised the consequences. He had lost his only friends.

She was so taken by his complete truthfulness. Richard was hardly ever directly truthful; the only way she knew was because she could sense him lying from a mile away. It was fairly odd for her to be catching him so bountiful in open feelings so early into their reunion. It confirmed how lonely he really was. He thought about it often, she could tell. With all that time to himself, what else would he think about? His failures.

She flicked the bathroom light off and step by step, made her way to Dick's bed. She softly placed her bottom on the mangled sheets and brought her legs into a cross legged position. It was if she knew what he was thinking. Dick set the remote back in it's stand.

Engrossed by her strange action, he took a seat on the bed as well, directly opposite her.

"Stop dwelling on it." Her voice was so soft and serene. It was almost angelic.

He dropped his eyes. "I shouldn't have…" he trailed off, unsure how to explain what he had done.

She snatched the hand that was resting in his lap. A wave of calm crashed over him and he felt the guilt, the pain and the sadness drain from him, almost as if the tide was taking all them with it. "That was five years ago, Richard." He looked up. Now she really did look angelic.

Her face was so soft and her eyes were.. placid. Everything was out on the table with her right now. He was so taken by her emotional appearance. It was the most emotion he'd seen her convey since… since he had made her cry all those years ago. "You're not that man anymore." He shivered. He felt naked. He felt as if she was looking at every part of him. The good and the bad. It was unnerving. But, he was still so calm.

He wasn't sure when he had fallen asleep, but all he knew was it by far the most peaceful and dreamless sleep he'd had in years.

* * *

><p><em>Sorry it's late, not very entertaining and poorly written. I've had quite a week and I'm not in the best mood, that's why this is at the bottom today.<em>

_I'll let you know now that I'm going overseas on Thursday to the US of A and won't be able to post until the new year._

_I'm going to be super blunt, maybe because I'm a moody bitch this morning, but I would like some more reviews. I've got all these people favouring my story, **which is super fabulous and I thank you so much**. But I'm an actor at heart and I like praise. Or criticism. It doesn't faze me as long as you say something! Please!_

_To my faithful reviewers, I thank a billion times over. It means a lot, because you are what keeps these stories going. Without your lovely comments, I wouldn't be here ;). **3 TheDreamChaser, RXRFannnnn, TheMaskedShuppeteer, Luna Dragana and StarryCassandra.** _

_I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year :). Please, be safe._

_R and R. _


	5. Forming

_Hey hey hey! I'm back and ready to rumble :). It would've been up sooner, but I was jet lagged, then sick (thanks New Years) and it was really hot, I'm talking like 40 degrees C. I shouldn't make excuses.. BUT HERE IT IS!_

_**A huge thank you to all my reviewers! I was completely bowled over at the amount I received. So once again thank you so much :).** However, please do keep reviewing. As I mentioned, I like feed back, even if it's one word, as Aria Gaile often says, Haha._

_I think I replied to all of them. Except the ones who don't do PM. I would mention all of your names right now... but I want to update this as soon as possible and it's hot :)._

_I was going to mention a whole bunch of stuff, but I can't seem to remember it now._

_Oh well._

_**Enjoy. Please, R and R :).** Oh and plenty of mistakes; I didn't brush over it much._

_Disclaimer: Don't own the sexy cartoons in this story._

* * *

><p><strong><em>Reconcile<em>**  
><em>Chapter Five: Forming. <em>

Her eyes slowly drifted open. She was greeted with the sight of a sleeping Dick Grayson. He was stretched out length ways, and slightly on his side. His right hand was snuck beneath his pillow, giving him a little extra height, and relaxed left leg was bent slightly. His dark hair fanned out across the squished pillow. For a change, he looked peaceful. The seriousness of his tired eyes were hidden behind closed lids. His face was creaseless. Serene.

She had to admit, this felt kind of nice. She was too busy trying to repress all the bad memories of the Titans instead of remembering the good ones. There were a shitload of good ones. They used to get along so well. As much as they pissed her off quite often, they were her friends, her family. Now, she only had Jason and a few other people that they surrounded themselves with.

Her eyes dropped to the crisp white sheets she had entangled her body with. She all of sudden felt a little disjointed. Lonely even. She had cut herself off from everyone and everything that had been a part of her life during her Titans era. She had abandoned her family. Guilt began to seep through the loneliness. No wonder Dick had been feeling so guilty all those years. She had something else to think about, to keep her mind occupied. Jason. He didn't.

She wished Dick would open his eyes.

_The edge of a knife poked its way through his black suit covering his abdomen. His face dropped all expression. It was like he was dead. Blood exploded from the wound, dripping down his black uniform and disappearing into the fog._

_Fuck! Jason!_

She almost leaped off the bed. With a quick thought, her powers dove out and her iPhone was now in hand. She slipped into the bathroom. She mentally closed the door softly as her hands touched the small screen. She pressed the gadget to her ear.

_Ring. _

_Ring, ring._

_Ring, ring._ Her heart was beginning to fasten.

_Ring, ring._ Jason.

_Ring –_

"Mmm, Yep?" The voice was muffled and croaky. It was Jason. She sighed in relief.

"Hey Jace," she called softly into the phone, leaning her butt against the counter and finally relaxing.

"Rave?" He asked tiredly. His mind was always a little foggy during wake up. She could hear him straighten, as if he had finally awoken from his sleepy daze. "Mmm hey, babe," He cooed roughly, "What's up?"

She shrugged, as if he could see her. "I just… had a nightmare," she admitted almost in a whisper.

She could hear him rustle amongst the sheets and covers. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, "yeah, I was just calling to just.. make sure…" she trailed off, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Was it about me?" He questioned softly.

She nodded again, but it was only accompanied by a, 'mmm.'

He rustled amongst the covers again; she presumed he was sitting up. "Don't worry, Rave. I'm still here, okay?"

She didn't say anything.

"I'm a little depressed without my sunshine around, I have to admit," She smiled sadly, "but otherwise, I'm perfectly fine, babe." She could hear the smile on his face.

There was a moment of silence. "Sorry for calling you so early, Jase."

"Don't apologise," he yawned for moment, "you call me anytime you like, Sunshine," his voice was soft and soothing.

"Big night?" She asked, noticing his mid-sentence yawn. She ran a hand through her dark tresses.

He chuckled a little. "Massive," he started as his chortle slowly died. "Tripped an alarm and had a bit of chase," he elaborated, acting as if were a breeze.

She shook her head with a smile. She hated what he did for a living, but she couldn't change him. He was good at his job. Thieving. "Please, be careful," she warned, her smile fading.

"I'm always careful, Sunshine."

"Did you just wink?" She sighed heavily. He was so corny.

"Maybe."

He yawned again. "I'll let you sleep," she pushed herself off the counter. "Night, X," she cooed softly as she tucked a fallen slither of hair behind her left ear.

"Night Raven," the silky smooth voice was back. "I love it when you call me that," he whispered in a sultry tone.

"Go to sleep," she replied monotonously before removing the phone from her ear. She could hear him call out some witty comment, but too late, she hung up.

With a soft smile, she locked the phone and reached for the door handle. The door handle moved before her brain even thought about it. She snapped her hand backwards and stumbled back a few steps, stunned. The door swung open slowly.

Dick poked his head through the gap. He was smiling, almost smugly. "Sorry," he apologised, before opening the door fully, revealing his well-formed frame that women drooled over.

She smiled, embarrassed by her stupid reflex. "Its fine," she brushed off the apology. "Do you need to use the –"

"No," he cut her off. His eyes widened at his lightning fast reply. "No," he repeated, softer and slower. "I just wanted to thank you for last night."

_Oh._

She softened.

"I mean it Raven," he reinforced his statement sincerely and gave her a radiant smile_. That face._

She looked down, afraid of his face. She just had to look away. It was just too… Dick Grayson. That didn't make sense at all, but somehow it did. That face reminded her of all their late night talks, they're post victory dinners, their early morning roof sessions and their midnight tea and coffee catch ups.

"I meant what I said last night, Raven," he cooed softly, drawing her eyes to his and peeling her from her thoughts.

She almost… almost, melted. He was giving her such a beautiful smile. It was so genuine. She hardly ever saw him smiling without the protection of his mask. If you thought he was beautiful without the mask. Times that by a million. _Yeah._ That smile grew infectious, as she too found herself smiling.

This decision, the decision to temporarily re-join the Titans, suddenly somehow felt so right.

"I meant what I said too, Dick," she replied gently. She really did mean it, and so did he.

With a reassuring smile she slipped past him and back into bedroom. He watched as she rounded the corner and out of sight. He smiled to himself. The words she had spoken to him last night were nothing short of astonishing. She was always the one for good pep talks, but last nights topped all of them. She had mentioned a lot of things she never would've even thought about saying five years ago.

This was the real Raven. The Raven he knew when the two were only alone. It made her a whole lot more attractive. Dick kicked that thought and then himself. With a shake of his head, he closed the door.

_888_

They were close now. Koriand'r, or Starfire, as others have known her, lived conveniently half way between Jewel City and Jump City. He was getting nervous now. There was a lot of history with Kori, a lot of… mishandled, Dick liked to call it, history. He wasn't sure how she would take him coming back and trying to get her to return to the Titans. Then again, it had been five years. This is why he went after Raven first. She was more on his level than any of the other Titans and the two girls had been pretty close before everything crumbled. However, if he knew Kori, the past was always in the past.

He looked across to his sleeping passenger. She had her temple resting against the top of the passenger's door and the edge of window. Her body was curled slightly towards the door. Her dark hair was pulled back into a high pony tail, giving her a flattering silhouette from the side.

His eyes cruised back to the road. _Stupid slow traffic_. He really couldn't understand why people drove so slow. The sign clearly stated 65 mph, and this guy was driving about 50.

"Come on," Dick whined in frustration. He reached for the blinker and flicked it.

He pressed his foot harder onto the peddle and swung out into the other lane_. Sixty-fucking-five Douche! _He really wished he could say that as his car sped past the slow orange Chevy Dodge. He flicked the blinker the other way and swung back into his rightful lane. He shook his head trying to rid his road rage. He looked at his speedometer. He blushed slightly in embarrassment. He was totally doing 65 a couple of minutes ago.

His gauge red 85 mph. Oops. He reeled back on the accelerator._ When does Dick Grayson ever drive slow? _He tried to defend his speed to himself. He blamed Bruce.

Settling down he looked over to Raven again. She had moved slightly, closer to the door and more hunched over. She was still asleep. He scoffed inwardly; he could sit and watch her sleep for hours. He often did back at Titans tower. It sounded a little creepy, he knew, but it was true. Their late nights often ended with one of them passing out long before the other.

Dick's eyes squinted for a moment, he was remembering something. His face seemed to brighten in content as the memory played like a movie in his mind.

_I_

_The dark haired hero rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he rose beneath the heavy blanket. He blinked several times, trying to adjust his eyes to the dark room. He noticed a dull ache in his left knee. Slowly, he stretched it out, hoping it would somehow do something. He felt the familiar rubber of his new uniform against his skin. He had slept in his Nightwing costume again. Probably the fifth time in the last week. Sighing at his failed attempts to remove his costume before sleeping once again, he realised he wasn't in his room._

_He was in the Titan's living room and on the sweeping round couch. His vision was finally clear. No wonder his knee was sore. That was the third time he hadn't slept in his own bed in the last week. He mentally slapped himself. No wonder he was becoming much more tired lately._

_A sudden movement beside him caught his attention. He snapped his head to look at the – body. Medium length dark hair, pale skin and a full dark, almost black, blue body suit. Raven. She curled up in a foetal position a few shuffles away from Dick. She had also slept in her new uniform. He grinned._

_It was a bit of a hassle to get them on and off. He imagined it would be even harder for her with all her womanly curves, trying to slide this ridiculously sticky rubber over her skin. He was thankful he was gifted with manly body shape. He raised an eyebrow as an image of her changing into her uniform flooded through his head. He pushed it to the back of his mind. However, the suits were much more comfortable and easier to move in. _

_She looked pretty good in that suit, he had to admit. Her leotard wasn't exactly practical for her to wear anymore. She had grown in more ways than one. He body had filled out, giving her a full hourglass figure that was much admired by a certain few team mates. _

_His thoughts were thrown when she shook for a few seconds. She moved again, rocking her head from one side to the other._

"_Don't.." she muttered softly. Her right hand tensed into a fist before releasing._

_Dick's face fell into concern as he recognised what was happening. She was having a nightmare. She had them regularly and so did he. From their past discussions, they weren't the most _normal_ nightmares. Blood, gore and death were usually reoccurring themes._

_Her whole body rocked this time, restlessly tossing from one side to the other. It was a bad one by the look and sound of it. "Don't!" Her voice was almost shouting now._

_Slowly, the young man pulled himself closer to the restless young woman. He crawled behind her and rested a hand on her waist, cocooning her frame within his. "Shh," he cooed before finally resting his body behind hers. He rested his head behind her own and he felt her flinch, waking herself._

"_Dick?" She whispered, shaken. She didn't move._

"_It's just me, it's okay," he whispered into her neck. _

_She didn't say anything. She didn't move. He could feel her muscles relax. A small smile was caught on his lips._

_I_

He turned his attention back to the road.

_888_

He pulled the keys from the ignition as she reached for the handle on the passenger's side door. She tugged at it and the door flew open. She went to step onto the tiled driveway, but turned back to face her partner in crime. He looked nervous.

She raised an eyebrow at his stillness. "Are you alright?" She asked, learning out to reach for the door handle again.

His anxious blue eyes looked at Raven. Those beautiful blue eyes continued to stun her. "Uh, I'm not so sure.. about.." he trailed off slowly, looking back down at the keys he had in his hands.

Frowning, the young woman pulled her door shut. "What do you mean?" she asked with a perplexed tone, turning her body to face the man fidgeting with his keys.

"I mean," he began quickly, "Kori and I dated," he finished even quicker. He didn't look up.

She raised an eyebrow, slightly. _They dated?_

"You dated?" She asked rhetorically, sounding completely puzzled.

He nodded, pursing his lips and raising a hand to scratch the back of his neck. He looked up at her. "For a couple of months after the Titans broke up," he winced, adding a pause, "It didn't work out so well."

She rolled her eyes. "I guessed," she sounded patronizing.

His eyebrows knitted together in a frown. "You guessed?" He gave her the same tone.

She had suddenly realised what she had just said and how she had said. She looked up at him horrified. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say-"

Dick cut her off with a chuckle. "I kind of even knew it myself," he confessed, "She just wasn't the right girl for me."

Raven smiled smugly, reaching for the door handle. "I could've told you that."

Dick looked at her incredulously. _Did that really just come out of her mouth?_ That haughty smile didn't fade as she stepped out of the car and slammed the door shut. He hastily reached for the door handle and quickly pulled himself out of car, slamming the door shut also.

This was a side of Raven he rarely saw. She was extremely witty. She could outmatch anyone with it, but it was hardly ever called upon. The closest thing she could get to it, without drawing out too much emotion, was sarcasm. Some found her sense of humour too dry, but it often left Dick smiling, even laughing. It seemed that she had loosened up. She had learned to show emotion. It was rather sexy. Yeah, he just thought that.

He wasn't quite sure how to reply to that.

"Then who is the right girl for me?" The words spilled out of his mouth before he could even think. And he had said it so self-righteously. Why did he say that? He wasn't even sure where that came from. It stopped him dead in his tracks, curious for an answer.

The striking, dark haired woman twisted her head back to the man. Why had he asked her that? Seriously, why did he ask her that?

"You'll have to figure that one out on your own," she kept the playful tone to her voice as she continued up the path to the rather large two story modern house. She didn't need to give girlie, D and M advice before they were about to try and persuade an ex Titan to re-join.

She gazed at the massive two story house in front of her. It was almost the size of a mansion. Whatever she or her partner did was obviously pulling in the money. It was an off shade of white and fairly modern, judging by all the straight lines and squares in the architecture. The garden was rather extravagant, decorated beautifully with bright colours and interesting designs. It was very Kori. She always did love to garden. She wasn't sure how the garden managed to match the house, but it strangely did.

She could hear Dick's footsteps follow her up the stone path and onto concrete porch. The door was large, the size of two doors just about and predictably black. She noted the glowing doorbell on the side of the frame.

"Can we just take a breather before we decide to –" Raven pressed her finger to the doorbell on the right side of the door frame. "Ring the door bell…" Dick trailed off slowly as he gave Raven a dead panned look. She grinned.

Dick's heart skipped a beat as he heard footsteps. His eyes stayed on Raven as footsteps got closer and closer. Her smile turned in a reassuring one. _It'll be okay, _He heard her whispered in his mind.

He took in a deep breath as he heard the lock unbolt and the silver door handle turn. His eyes switched to the door as it slowly swung open. He swallowed.

There stood their orange ex-team mate, as beautiful as ever. She stood tall and barefoot in white, extremely short mini shorts, seriously, these were like underwear. She had short tank top on, flashing of her perfectly well defined abs and a usual Kori amount of cleavage. Her long orange hair was straight and free flowing. She looked really good.

Her face was in shock. Her full lips were pursed into the shape of a small 'o' and her eyebrows were raised as high as they could possibly go. Her eyes were as green as ever. The two newly formed Titans could swear there was about 30 seconds of silence as they all just looked at each other.

"RAVEN!" She squealed as her face snapped into something between an overexcited five year old and a woman receiving a proposal from the man of her dreams. Her arms leaped around the other female.

Raven could feel that she was restraining her strength, a lot. Raven's eyes widened at the possibility that Kori had gotten even stronger. Unexpected to Kori, Raven wrapped her arms around her too and gave her a little squeeze. This delighted Kori even more as she also squeezed a little tighter, a little too tight for Raven, but she could put up with it for a few more moments.

The alien princess finally pulled back from the Dark sorceress, ecstatic. Raven was almost laughing at her excitable nature.

"DICK!" she squealed again as she launched herself at the young adult male.

He laughed, enveloping her into a warm hug. "Hey, Kori."

He looked back at the dark haired woman who was smiling rather largely. Maybe it would be all okay.


	6. Return

_Get ready for the biggest chapter to date. Yeah, you heard me._

_**Uber thank you's to ALL of my reviewers. Epic babes. Again, I'm freaked out at the amount I received, so thank you again!** I think I replied to all of them.. I think. I also received some very beautiful reviews in the past week, and I'm very humbled. I'm just so happy that you enjoy reading my brain rambles :D. _

_Not much to report, except the boringness of it. I apologise for that. It's pretty.. uneventful again. Just trying to get all of the background stuff out of the way, and I can't skip it because I feel it would jib the story. Starfire's stuff is probably a little rushed... but meh. I think there was a continuity error too, Jason went from brown eyes to green. I like green better now. _

_Oh and lots of mistakes. Lots. Haha._

**_Anyway, please do Read and Review :)._**

_Disclaimer: Don't own TT._

**_Enjoy! _**

* * *

><p><strong><em>Reconcile<em>**

_Chapter Six: Return._

The tall alien finally pulled away from the handsome young man. Her smile still stayed; big and effortless, as always. Her sleek feminine hands snatched a hand of each Titan. Her touch was warm.

"It is so good to see you both," Her voice was smooth, sounding much less naïve than she had been in the past.

Raven raised both her eyebrows before her expression slipped into a sad smile. She felt guilty for her lack of contact all of a sudden. She had meant to call, text, even email, but something had stopped her every time. "It's been too long, Kori," she admitted, still holding hands with the alien.

"It has," the princess agreed, reflecting Raven's look and adding a nod.

The thoughtful moment seemed to capture all three of them, sending them into a silence. They felt strangely nostalgic, wishing they could go back to the drama free conversations of their teenage years. However a small flint of uncertainty filled them at the same time. They all were unsure what would take place in the next few minutes, but it was somehow comforting. That's how it used to be back in the Titan days.

Kori twitched slightly, breaking herself and the other two from the silence. "Come in!" she insisted brightly, turning and strutting back up the hall.

Raven looked at Dick with an easy smile before stepping into the humble abode. She wasn't sure what to expect, but she prayed to Azar that Kori's sense of style had improved. She was always one for matching odd colours together She could feel Dick follow her in and close the door behind them.

The dark haired woman staggered down the hall, astonished by all her beautiful surroundings. The hall was decked out with white concrete walls that curved over their heads, melting into the opposite wall. The floor was made of thick dark boards; Oak, Raven presumed.

_She's still got a bitchin' bod. _Wrong moment to pick boy wonder's brain.

She turned to look back at the ogling male. She raised her eyebrows, as if to say, 'Come on'. A cheeky smile decorated his face in reply and he shrugged. _What did you expect?_

She rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to following Kori.

The hallway stopped and opened out into an open plan living design. They entered into the kitchen which seemed to be designed for entertaining guests judging by the extremely large marble topped island counter in the middle of the kitchen. Surprisingly, the cupboards were a darker grey and matched the modern vibe set by the outside of the house. Large and sleek stainless appliances added the finishing touches to the kitchen.

To the left of the kitchen paraded a large dining table made of the same wood as the floor. A glass top decorated the top of the table, finished with eight modern curved back chairs made of some sort of grey plastic and a clear vase sat visibly in the middle, highlighting the beautiful flowers from the front garden.

Kori by passed the kitchen and dining, stepping down the two small steps into the living area. White leather couches and a home theatre system were the features of the large living area. It also boasted some expensive artworks which both Raven and Dick recognised. Glass concertina doors, which were open, led to the floor boarded deck, featuring another lounge setting, an outdoor eating area and an outdoor pool.

Kori turned back to the two. "Come outside," she insisted still thrilled at their surprise visit, motioning for them to follow.

Cautiously Raven followed the princesses' footsteps down the stairs and to the outdoor area. Kori was now seated comfortably on another leather couch, which was a shade of grey. Raven thought it was odd they should put it outside, but each to their own. The dark haired woman took a seat opposite her old girlfriend and she was soon accompanied by Dick. He was still notably nervous.

Determined for this to go right, Raven silently manipulated him. She could see him physically relax, and finally, mentally. He looked at her, but she quickly turned her attention to Kori, unable to see the suspicious look he was giving her.

"I have missed you both so much," she enthused truthfully as she slinked one leg over the other. She looked so happy, and not her usually cheerful self, she looked genuinely happy. Raven could feel it.

The lack of 'Starfire' in the past few years of Raven's life made her realise how infectious her joyful nature really was. She had learnt to turn herself off from it back with the Titans. Now, fully allowed to frolic amongst these new emotions, she could fully appreciate the power of Kori's natural personality. "We missed you too, Kori."

The alien's smile grew and was mixed with a flash of surprise. Her realisation was interesting to watch as she leaned back against the leather couch, letting her arms grip the back of the couch. She leaned forwardly suddenly brining her hands to her lap, completely captivated. "You are different, Raven," she noted, pleasantly surprised. Her English was very fluent now, pronounced perfectly, but fluent. "It's very beautiful," she complimented. She was still as up front as ever.

Raven chuckled. "Thank you."

The tanned woman's gaze switched to Dick. A flash of sadness slipped into her look. She grinned at the boy wonder. The dark sorceress could feel the awkwardness between them. Kori wasn't sure what to say.

"You look well, Dick," she commented. _Better than when I was with you. _A darkened sadness crept through Raven when she heard that thought. She really had loved Dick, and she still did by what Raven could sense, but she loved someone else more. Raven smiled to herself. _Peter_, she might have probed out of the Tamaran's thoughts.

He grinned politely. "So do you, Kori," he replied attentively, trying not to cause any unnecessary bad feelings.

Dick looked to Raven. _How do we tell her? _He asked mentally as his face gave off a puzzled kind of vibe. Raven looked from Dick to Kori, who seemed to have caught onto their anxious exchange of looks.

"There is something wrong…" She trailed off slowly. Her pleasant smile faded from her face and her eyes turned serious. She looked from Raven to Dick and then back again. "What is it?" She asked Raven, growing concerned.

Raven licked her lips trying to stall before turning to look to Dick. Kori followed her gaze, sending her now pleading look to her former boyfriend. "What is it, Dick?" she asked, a little more commanding this time.

With a hard swallow, he spoke, "Slade."

The princess' eyes turned to slits as the name slithered from Dick's mouth. She was concentrating, presumably going over the same memory that the other two Titans had a few days earlier. "But he died?" She stated in more of a questioning tone. It was almost bordering on naïve, sounding similar to the old Kori that they used to know.

"He did," Raven butted in. "But he's come back from the dead before," she reminded in a stern tone, referring to all that jazz that happened with her father, Trigon.

"There's an apprentice," Dick finished the argument for her. They both knew they needed to get to the point, and quickly. Dick had been away from Jump for way too long. Any advantage that Slade had gained while Dick was away was an inch closer to him fulfilling his plans. "Wherever there's an apprentice, there's Slade."

Kori blinked a few times. Her blank face gave away the disbelieving thoughts scrambling around in her brain_. Slade was back?_ Her gaze fell to the floor as she tried to grasp at something to say. Dick, feeling still guilty about the way their relationship had ended, decided to make things a little easier for her and him.

"We need you back on the Team, Kori," he said delicately, trying to sound as sincere as he possibly could.

Her eyes jumped up to look at Dick bewildered. She then looked to Raven who was giving her an encouraging smile. "You need me?" She asked, still stunned.

Both Titans sitting across from the alien nodded. Her face broke out into another of her famous overenthusiastic smiles as she got to her feet. "I'll call Peter," she insisted quickly. _Bingo,_ Raven thought. The alien princess leaped for Raven. "He'll understand completely," she sounded like she was reasoning with herself. She gripped Raven's hand and yanked her to her feet. "You have to help me pack, Raven!" She almost shouted, dragging Raven back inside.

Raven looked back at Dick. _I told you._

_888_

_He pushed her up against the wall. He gripped both of her hands above her head with one hand and brought a flick knife to her throat with the other. "Who do you work for?" He growled in between gasps for air. She felt a wet fabric against her slender hands. Was he holding something?_

_She had to give him points for trying. She could easily go for his injured leg, or either leg really, but she decided against it. She could feel his warm breath on her face. She could've done something by now, but she hadn't. Realising that, he dropped his hold on her. He turned quickly, heading for the queen bed._

"_Leave now," he commanded strongly, bending over slightly, his back still to her._

_Eugh, she couldn't leave him like this. Her inner heroine was calling out to her. She hadn't saved a life in over a year. Maybe that righteous feeling of using her powers for good would return, inspiring her to do something meaningful with her life. She decided to stay still._

_Furious, the man turned around, probably too quickly for his own good. He stumbled slightly, dizzy. His vision began to shake. "You need to go now!" He was shouting, and spitting too. It wasn't attractive in his books at all, but this girl didn't deserve to be caught up in his mess. "You'll be killed!" He panted angrily._

_She didn't move. _

_He staggered forward a few step before everything started to fail on him. His knee collapsed beneath him, letting his body crumble sideways to the carpet. A light thud was all that accompanied him when he landed less than gracefully onto the cream carpet. He looked up at her, trying to regain what dignity he had left. He was having trouble focusing on her. She presumed he was losing way too much blood. _

_He tried to pull himself up off of the carpet. "You have to go," his tone was desperate and shaky. He had to get her to leave. _

_Her face delved slightly into a saddened expression as she walked up to the young male. He was severely beaten judging by his black eye and the cut across his lip. His breathing got quicker and shorter as she approached. He was anxious, frantic and unstable. She bent down before him and he tried his best to flinch away from her but ended up yelping in pain as his aching muscles and joints moved to fast for him to control._

"_Trust me," she whispered, going for the knife._

_He shook his head which was severely distorted with pain. "Don't," he mumbled weakly._

_She pushed him onto his back with quite a bit of force due to his feeble struggling attempts. She put one knee either side of the gory wound. He whined this time as she reached for the knife with her right hand. "Please," he mumbled hopelessly._

_This was going to hurt. She gave him a sympathetic look. With a light tug she began pull the knife out of his flesh. His eyes widened as the pain kicked it. After a choke escaped his mouth, a howling scream ripped from his throat. He could feel the cool blade retracting, and it was beyond fucking painful. Black magic covered his mouth, silencing his heart wrenching sobs. _

_Tears of pain rolled down his cheeks as he tried to keep his body still beneath the young woman. She couldn't imagine the pain that he was in. The knife was free of flesh. She swallowed as gazed at the wound. It was far from pretty and far beyond gruesome. Blood began to ooze from the wound. A pale hand touched the area. Her hand glowed black. It must've cut ligaments, nerves and arteries and god knows what else. It looked like it had just missed the bone. How had he managed to get back here?_

_The man settled down. His face was blank as she concentrated on what she was doing. The black mask over his mouth faded._

"_Raven?" The word was soft, almost in audible. It was croaked out between a blood soaked tongue and teeth._

_Bewildered, her eyes snapped to his. He grinned, well, as much as he could for the injuries he had sustained, showing his blood stained teeth. He let his left hand unclench. _

_If she wasn't shocked before, she would be now._

_The black fabric flopped out of his bloodied hand, revealing a white skull and a slashing asymmetrical red X. _

_I_

She hadn't exactly told Kori that story, but she was thinking of it while she completely lying to Kori's face.

The orange haired girl gushed in delight. "That's so sweet, Raven," she cooed admiringly from the back seat. "He sounds so lovely!"

Dick rolled his eyes_. Yeah, he was totally lovely, _in a, 'hey, you're a dick', kind of way. Not to mention he was suspicious as fuck. All those years under Bruce hadn't taught him not to be a grade 'A' detective. There was something up with Jason, and the couple weren't about to admit it any time soon. Dick was fairly over this boyfriend conversation, it was making him a little agitated. Jason was nowhere near as good as he was described. He just wanted to be back in Jump City so they could get a good night's rest before attempting to persuade Garfield and Victor tomorrow.

Raven softened her smile. Sometimes she wished she could tell truth, but that was part of the life she agreed to. She would be forever a partner to a no one. No one knew him, only those who were important enough. She wished she could be close to someone besides Jason. She wished she had a proper girlfriend to talk to sometimes. She missed Koriand'r, a lot.

Shaking herself from her thoughts, Raven continued the conversation. "Peter sounds amazing," she replied energetically, going over the facts Kori had mentioned before.

He did sound amazing, to be honest. He sounded completely perfect for Kori. Peter Lindsay Mason was his full name, as Kori voluntarily spilt out. A purse kept picture proved that he was rather attractive. He was dark haired with blue eyes and gifted with a well-structured face with attractive features. He also wore glasses, another random fact from Kori. He was a surgeon, which explained her wealthy abode. He treated her like a princess from the stories she told, and that's what Kori deserved.

_I_

_Kori took another sip of her coke as she watched the fireworks from afar. She absolutely adored fireworks. They were packed with every possible colour and then launched into the sky to make pretty patterns and popping noises. She didn't quite understand the concept, but they were beautiful none the less._

_Families were gathered in scattered bunched around her, enjoying the sights as well. It dampened her mood slightly to watch all of the young couples cuddling affectionately with their kids running around mindlessly. The side kick to the Dark Knight came to mind. She wished it hadn't ended the way it did. She missed him. She wished he was here. She wished he was still with her. She wished he was still in love with her._

_She heard a group of loud voices behind her. They were laughing and carrying on. With a frown, she turned to look who was disturbing the show. A group young men were gathered about 100 metres from her, obviously getting a little more of a view than just the fireworks. However, she didn't exactly understand that either. _

_She motioned for them to be quiet by putting a finger to her lips. The boys made some uncouth noises as she turned back to the fireworks which were still popping away._

_Minutes passed, and soon, she could hear someone stepping through the grass behind her. She presumed it was one of the men. A figure resided beside her for moment, watching the fireworks too._

"_They're beautiful aren't they?" The smooth and manly voice gently called over the noise of the fireworks._

"_Yes they are," the beautiful princess agreed before turning to face the man._

_A large grin grew onto her face. He was quite attractive. He had a striking dark tan and dark hair, and a set of blue eyes that popped, reminding her of the most vibrant blue. _

"_Just like you," he smiled smugly at his lame attempt. He knew it was the corniest thing to say, but he was dared to walk up to this woman and try and score a date. He had nothing to lose. All Six of his friends knew he was out of his league, but insisted that he try his luck, hoping to see him crash and burn._

"_Thank you," she blushed, dropping her head._

"_What's your name gorgeous?" he asked, grabbing her hand._

_Her smile grew as she flicked her hair to the other side. She was attracted to him. "Kori," she replied joyfully._

"_Nice to meet you Kori," he began, pulling her hand up to his mouth. He kissed it gently. "My name's Peter." He dropped her hand gently before standing at full height again. He was taller than her, which was a major plus, considering Kori was bordering on 6'1._

"_You too," she almost giggled at the fact that he had kissed her hand._

_He grinned at her 'cuteness'. "I've come here to ask… if you would like go to out on a date with me," he scrambled out, trying to be as smooth as possible._

_Kori beamed. This was the right time. It was time to get over Richard Grayson. "I would love to."_

_He didn't crash and burn._

_888_

Kori yawned as the other Two Titans pulled their suitcases from the boot. Raven couldn't exactly see the house perfectly from the outside but it was certainly big enough. Maybe even close to his mentor's house back in Gotham. He motioned for the two girls to follow him up the steps to the left of the parked car. Raven took a last look around the large garage. Jason would've loved it. It was decorated with dozens of cars and motorcycles that were way out of price range for most people. They were obviously kept in mint condition, knowing Dick.

Tiredly, Raven lugged her suit case up the steps, followed by Kori. Dick held the door open whilst the two girls spilled into the entrance hall.

Raven almost died, as did Kori. The entrance was huge, probably the size of some civilian houses. Raven could've sworn it was marble from wall to floor. It was decorated in an olden style, mixing in a bit of gothic, something that the dark haired woman realised instantly. It was stunning. A large staircase right in the middle of the room led, obviously, to the second floor and humongous white columns supported the roof the over their heads.

She couldn't imagine what it must be like walking through those double story doors at the rightful entrance. She might just have to try that tomorrow.

Kori's jaw had dropped, making her mouth part in awe. "This is beautiful, Dick," she complimented distractedly, trying to take everything in.

He shrugged, not impressed. "It's a bit much," he looked around as if the place were covered in a layer of grime. "But my other place only accommodates for one." He started for the stairs. "I'll show you to your rooms."

_888_

"Thanks, Dick."

The black haired man carefully put the suitcase on the rack beside the wardrobe. "No problem," he replied as he turned back to her.

She was too busy taking in the sight of her room for the next few weeks. The slight smile edged on her lips gave enough away for Dick to be pleased about his choice of rooms. He had also placed her on his side of the mansion. The quiet side. The others were going to be conveniently placed in the left wing where they were free to do what they pleased without disturbing the two that liked their peace.

"You like it?" He asked, waiting to get confirmation that this was the right choice.

She looked back at him with a delighted look. "I love it," she sighed, almost breathless.

This room was gifted with dark floorboards and dark grey walls. It was furnished with a large king sized four poster bed, made of similar wood to the floorboards. Matching bedside tables sat beside the bed and as well as a dresser that sat against the wall on the left side of the bed. Red Linen dressed the bed, matching the beautiful gothic rug on the floor and the various paintings hanging on the walls.

To the left of the dresser was a set of double doors that led to a balcony overlooking the back of Dick's property. However, she seemed to be most taken by the ceiling. It was wood panelling that matched the floor. Suitably, in the middle of the panelling hung a rustic, gothic themed chandelier which was probably half the size of Dick's 300c Chrysler.

He shook his head, amused at how awestruck she was. She dropped her gaze to the bed and plopped backwards onto it. "This is perfect," she sighed again.

Dick laughed, taking a seat next to her on the bed. "I thought you might like it," he took a look around the room himself. The interior decorator had done her job well.

"Why don't you live here full time?" She pondered out loud as she ran a hand across the quilt cover.

He shrugged again. "It's too big," he began, his face indifferent. "Too fancy, too far out… too Bruce Wayne," He smirked as the last words rolled off his tongue.

"Ahh," She got it now, matching his grin with her own. "A gift?" She quizzed, looking at him now.

He nodded. "So I prefer to reside in my one bedroom apartment in the city." It made sense. He was never one for fancy things. Yeah, he would chuck on a suit if necessary and even buy something expensive like a car, but the house was _too_ much. He wasn't the butler owning, party throwing and champagne drinking type. He had the money and didn't care for it, as long as he could keep at his _career_, he was happy.

He grew solemn and his eyes lost their focus, gazing off into the distance, thoughtful. She already knew what he was thinking about; tomorrow. Tomorrow was it. He was thinking of the two Titans left to go, Garfield and Victor. Most likely he was thinking of Victor. They were the two that had left the Titans on the worst terms. They competed in a heated argument before entering into a fist fight that resulted in a bloody nose and black eye.

"_Right now, I would be fucking thrilled if you never spoke to me again, Dick. You're a fucking arsehole and I hope you never forget it!"_

Dick sighed heavily. He wasn't expecting much from Cyborg, considering they both still lived in Jump City and neither of them had ever tried to contact each other. He needed Cyborg, even missed him. After Raven, he was the only other Titan that he could hold a decent and intellectual conversation with. It was crucial that he joined, without him, the technological side of the case would be severely lacking in development. Slade was mostly technology when it came to devious plots. That meant without Cyborg… this whole adventure might have been a waste of time.

A gentle hand touched his back. He shivered to life and looked to the usually emotionless Raven. The left side of mouth curved up into a half smile. The small gesture was reassuring. He noticed the clock on the wall. _Holy shit._ 1.52am. He hadn't realised they had gotten in so late.

He got to his feet. "Since it's well past midnight, I think I should probably leave you to sleep," he looked embarrassed for moment as he motioned to the clock.

She nodded, glancing at the clock. He turned to face the door and made a B-line straight for it. He turned back all of sudden mid walk, realising he hadn't said good night. "Goodnight Raven," He grinned, and being the boy wonder he was known for, managed to trip on his own feet. With a stumble he crashed into ground sideways creating a loud thud on the floor boards and then cracked the back of his head on the wooden door.

He sent a cautious hand to the back of his head as he squeezed his eyes shut. "Fuck," he hissed through his set of perfectly straight teeth.

He opened his eyes and the young woman was at his side. She looked concerned. "Are you alright?" She questioned, sending both of her hands to the back of his head.

He felt her cool hands touch his scalp and the pain slowly leaked away. "Ugh, yeah," he mumbled, as he felt the iciness of her powers slowly diminish from the back of his head. Her hands then wrapped around his forearm and helped him into a sitting position. "Thanks," he said, running a hand over where he had bumped his head.

She bit her bottom lip as the look in her eyes turned to amused. Her body crumpled as a snicker escaped her lips. She smacked a hand over her mouth trying to stop the laughter, but her eyes still held the same look. He gave her an expressionless look, unimpressed. She dropped the hand and also her gaze.

"That wasn't funny," he said scornfully.

She exploded into a fit of laughter as she looked back up at Dick. Her laughter was infectious. It was easy laughing, not strained or forced. It wasn't annoying or absolutely repulsive. It was just nice. A cheeky grinned was suddenly plastered on his face, and before he knew it, he was laughing too.

As their joined laughter filled the air, he wished he had seen this more often back with Titans. She was attractive emotionless, but astonishingly gorgeous as soon as any expression crossed her features. It was worth the wait all those years to finally see her like this.

Their laughter slowly died and Raven coughed a little. "I can't believe you just tripped over your own feet," she scoffed, her genuine smile still there.

"Well, you know…" he trailed off, blushing as the two got to their feet. He tried to string something defensive to say back. But seriously, how can you defend tripping over your own feet? "I'm just… awesome…"

She laughed again at his lack of explanation for his faulty hand and eye coordination and core balance. He beamed at the sound of her laughter. She dropped her hands from around his bicep. He had completely forgotten it was there.

"Go to bed before you knock yourself out," she warned jokingly, another sicker coming her mouth. He rolled his eyes, reaching for the door handle behind. "You might want to watch what you're doing, Dick," she pointed to the door, trying to swallow a giggle.

He turned to see that he was reaching for the wrong side of the door. "Oh." He quickly grabbed the door handle and pulled the door open. He turned back to the giggling woman. Embarrassed, he quickly scratched the back of his head where the lump from his fall would've been.

She swallowed the laughter, the amused look still on her face. "Goodnight, Dick," she managed to say with a partially straight face.

"Goodnight Raven," he repeated, backing out of the room. He closed the door and let out the biggest sigh to date. He slapped himself for his stupidity. Now he really did look like boy blunder. He couldn't even walk around without fucking it up.

But hearing her laugh was worth it. He mentally played the sound over again in his mind. It brought a smile to his face. He turned, heading for his bedroom. He felt a pull in his ankle. _Great, just great._


	7. Nostalgic

_Ahh! I'm so sorry it's late. I've been working like a dog, rofl, and I had a mini writers block. However, I pumped through it, not very well, so the expectations for this chapter should be very low._

_Ho'k. The important stuff. I need to be quick. **THANK YOU TO MY BEAUTIFUL REVIEWERS. There is lots of love coming from me right now. I know I forgot to reply, I apologise but this time I will!** And hopefully... I'll get some more reviews. Hmm, yes?_

_Okay, this chapter, a bit rushed and mistakes everywhere. Alright; I can't deny that Beast Boy and Raven had something going on at some point during TT, so there's some of that shizz goin' down. Bit of Jase action in there, and some other stuff I've forgotten to mention. You'll figure it out :)._

_Disclaimer: Don't own the stuff._

**_Please read and Review. I love feedback. Bad, awesome, one word. It's all good!_**

* * *

><p><em>Reconcile:<em>

_Chapter Seven: Nostalgic._

Raven rolled her eyes as they pulled up to the kerb. "How stereotypical," she commented sarcastically as she reached for the handle. Koriand'r let out a small chuckle as she pulled herself from the vehicle.

"I honestly couldn't see him doing anything else though, Raven," Kori added with nostalgic smile, slamming the door shut.

"True," she agreed, also shutting her door.

The lights from the car flashed twice, signalling that it had been locked. The dark haired woman let the other two take charge by letting them walk slightly in front. It didn't go unnoticed. Dick looked back with an amused expression. "Scared?" he taunted jokingly.

She gave him a blank look and the man grinned at her reply. "It was six years ago, Raven," he almost chuckled, remembering the love struck green teenager's antics.

"Try telling him that," she replied with a slight sigh.

She loved Beast Boy, she really did, but he just wasn't for her. He was so much younger than her mentally. His comic relief was usually badly timed and too often. He couldn't offer her the support that she needed. He just didn't understand her. She knew it wasn't just him though. Relationships are a two way street, and he was the one way. She wasn't ready. She wasn't ready for someone to share her burdens. She wasn't ready to be loved.

_I_

"_Raven," he began pleadingly, "just let me take you out on a date," he clasped his hands together in a prayer like motion in front of her. _

_She sighed, rolling her eyes. "Gar, leave me alone," she warned, side stepping around the small teenager._

_He turned quickly, running to catch up with her. "Rae! Come on! We'll go to the movies and get some ice cream-"_

"_Garfield," she called out strongly, stopping them both in their tracks. "I'm not going to the movies with you," She reiterated again, getting slightly annoyed._

_He smirked, his teeth poking through his lips a little. "Fine, fine," he sighed in defeat, "How about we just get some take out and just sit on the beach-"_

_She flipped around to face him, her eyes glaring and her teeth snarling. "Garfield!" She almost shouted. "I am not going on a date with you! I never will go on a date with you! So will you please just," she paused to take a steadying breath, "leave me the fuck alone!" But the breath had failed. She had almost snarled and spat the whole paragraph at him. She instantly wished she could take it back. Her face fell to blank._

_His face was stunned. Eyes wide in shock, jaw dropped and mouth slightly parted. He shrank away from her, hands brought down by his sides. _

_She put her soft hands out to tough him delicately, but he flinched away from her even more. A saddened expression darkened his features before the anger and disappointment took over._

"_Gar, I'm so sorry," she softened, her mind spinning._

"_Don't," he warned dangerously, his voice low and growling._

"_Garfield, I didn't mean to hurt-" she went to touch him again for comfort. To comfort herself. To know that everything would be alright between them._

"_Too late for that," he retorted._

_She swallowed as she watched him turn around. Her mind instinctively went to search his, waiting for any weakness, any comments, anything that she could pounce on to make this situation disappear. _

Cold hearted bitch.

_She let her head drop upon hearing those words. That was what she always tried to avoid. She was always the cold one, the sourpuss, the dark one, creepy, freaky, little miss fucking sunshine. _

_She was trying to save him. He didn't deserve a life with her. He deserved someone so much better. Someone who could give him a real life. A happy one. She couldn't give him that. She couldn't give that to anyone._

_She spun slowly, reaching for her hood. She raised her head. Her pained amethyst eyes met a mask. His face melted into concern. He wasn't sure what to say, what to do. He swallowed, feeling his throat tighten._

_She flipped her hood up quickly, hiding her emotionally exposed face. He stepped forward, once and then again. She didn't move._

_It was okay to approach._

_888_

He felt the blade nick his skin through his black uniform. With a hiss he flinched backwards, raising his arm. He flicked his wrist a large white X spat from his hand. It flew through the air and wrapped itself around the goon dressed fully in black, including a black ski mask.

Irritated, he sent a hand to gingerly touch the wound forming on his stomach. He winced as the dull ache increased. He quickly snapped his hand away, feeling the blood already starting to clot at the base of the cut.

He looked up at the goon struggling helplessly in his gadget. The middle aged man was the last of ten, who had been beaten and strewn aside in the passing alleys behind them. Not bad for a thief who hadn't worked in the field for a couple of months. That dull ache returned and the anger boiled in the pit of his stomach. Who the fuck was stupid enough to fuck with his clan?

He stomped forward, ripping the ski mask from the goons head. The man flinched, absolutely terrified. His eyes were pleading as sobs began to rip from his throat. Then the water works began. Streams of tears were now flowing freely down his dirtied cheeks.

X sighed loudly, sounding more dramatic through his robotic voice changer.

"Please…" the man trailed off, his sobs getting the better of him.

With a roll of his eyes, X gripped the man by the throat and pulled him to his height. The man's eyes almost popped out of his head as the grip around his neck was too tight. He choked, gasping for air. All he could do was stare at the skull mask and wobble his partially free bottom limbs.

"Who hired you?" X growled, but it came out much lower and menacing.

The guy shook his head, scrambling to spit out some words. His deep brown eyes continued to bulge as he still struggled desperately for air.

The mob X was a part of wasn't one to be lightly crossed. They were the powerhouse of organised crime in this city. He only dabbled in it, organising crimes here and there, and helped distribute the precious chemical that powered his beloved suit. It earned him plenty of money, allowing him to live quite comfortably. However, this so called, 'attack' upon one of the mob's bases was extremely underprepared, and not to mention pointless. The guys were lazy, undertrained, basically bozo's with guns. They had no intention to steal anything.

X mauled over the little details in his mind. They obviously wanted information, but what for? He considered asking the goon, but it was obvious he had no idea. He was just getting paid.

X released his grip from the man's throat. His body landed with a loud thud against the cement. A cry escaped his lips, followed by an exploding coughing fit, a couple of wheezes and gasps for air.

Impatient, X decided to speed up the process by delivering a powerful kick to the man's side. He yelped as the force of kick made him roll over. He coughed again, blood exploding from his mouth and spraying across the pavement.

"Who hired you?" X demanded vehemently, threatening to land another steel toe to the ribs.

"I don't know!" He screamed, still panting from the lack of air.

"Of course you do," X snarled, following through on that kick that he had promised a moment ago.

The steel cap boot landed swiftly and forcefully into the side of the goon, knowing full well that it would bust a few delicate ribs. A screamed erupted from him and another cough of blood. His was face distorted; trying to deal with the pain from the few broken ribs he had just received.

X slowly bent down, pushing his weight forward onto his toes and resting an elbow on each knee. "So…" he began quietly, "Who hired you?" he whispered as low as he possibly could.

The wheezing man sighed, another twist of pain contorting his face. "This guy…" he took a shallow breath and flinched again, "my mate works for…" he trailed off as the tears returned.

X sighed, exasperated. This guys was taking his sweet fucking time. He leaned forward and pressed a strong hand exactly into the spot where he had just kicked him with his boot. The man moaned before it slowly ascended into an agonizing cry. "Who is trying to fuck with me?" he roared.

The man whimpered and bit his lip, trying to stop his cries of pain. More tears spilled from the rims of his eyes. "HIS NAME IS ACE!" He yelled, as the pressure from X's hand became stronger.

X kept his morality, taking his hand away from the wounded ribs. "Where can I find him?" X asked, dropping back his bad cop routine a little.

The man shook his head, his sweaty brown hair whipping the salty substance around. "You don't…" he whispered, puffing for more oxygen to fill his lungs.

Quickly, X rose to his feet. "Well tell your _Boss_, if he tries to fuck with us again, I'll kill him," he snarled walking away from the man.

_888_

The three young adults step into the store and were greeted with the most disturbing sight. Dozens of young teenagers. Nerdy, dweeby, whatever you want to call it, they were all there, drooling over and discussing all of the hundreds of video games that lined the outer walls of the store.

Yep. Garfield owned a video game store. Probably one of the most well equipped in the entire city. It gathered people from all ages, mostly, pubescent teenagers who had no other interests in life besides living behind a computer or game station and pretending they kicked arse in the real world. It had Gar written all over it.

The three of them had never felt more out of place in their lives, considering they used to do what these characters in their games did for a living. They got shifty looks, especially Dick. He thought maybe because he either, one, was too old, two, Richard Grayson, three, with two attractive women. He guessed it was the latter by the clumps of boys gawking at the beautiful alien princess beside him. _Teenage boys,_ Dick reminded himself, rolling his eyes. He couldn't believe he used to be like that.

Kori seemed to be enjoying the sights, smiling sweetly at the drooling boys as she passed them. She didn't want to ignore them, but she didn't want to make them explode a load in their pants either.

Raven raised an eyebrow which was met with a disgusted expression. She could smell the sweat and teenage body odour wafting through the room. She coughed slightly, clearing her throat. She felt uncomfortable with all the sudden gazes on her. This place was definitely not healthy.

The three Titans were now at the counter residing at the back of the store. All three were attempting, all in their own ways, to smile at the two sales assistants behind the dorky green counter. Their eyes were wide in awe and their bodies were unmoving.

Dick looked at Raven who was rather speechless at the reception they had just received. He then turned to Kori, who was still smiling awkwardly. She raised her eyebrows at Dick, keeping the uneasy smile on her face. He felt a nudge in his side. He snapped to Raven who was now glaring at him. That obviously meant that he should do something.

Swallowing, he laughed uneasily at the two assistants, probably in their late teens. "Uh, we were looking for Be – Garfield, Uh, Garfield Logan?" He managed to fumble out, as the whole store seemed to fall quiet. Only the raging teenage music in the background kept the store from silence.

"OH!" One of the assistants squeaked a little over excited. "I'll just go and get him!" He spoke so fast all his words merged together and were barely understandable. Suddenly he was gone, zipping through the single framed door slightly to the right of the counter.

The other assistant was darked haired and pale skinned and staring extremely cumbersomely at Raven. She slowly raised an eyebrow, utterly confused by his expression. The teenager sucked in his lips, as though to chew them, before letting them protrude out again. He was starting to freak Raven out. She turned her sight line to Dick, trying to avoid teen. Dick gave her an apprehensive smile. She could still feel the horny teenagers' eyes on her. It was getting way too freaky now.

As always, the green skinned man delivered himself just in time. "What do you mean –" his loud voice broke the silence as he stepped into the frame. His face twisted, going to blank shortly after. His green eyes moved from equal green ones to ocean blue before finally resting on amethyst.

"Whoa," his voice almost echoed. The mask broke and a smile cracked onto his features. Quickly, he rounded around the counter and up to the three. He put his arms out, ready for a reunion.

Koriand'r obliged courteously, letting the green man envelope her in a large hug. The two pulled back and Garfield took another look at Kori. He whistled cheekily and the princess let an amused giggle escape. "You look great, Kori," he commented, letting his eyes roam the bright sight.

She side stepped, revealing Dick. "You do too, Gar," she returned the compliment.

"Dick!" he bellowed loudly, going for the hug again.

Dick, a little uncomfortable, let the changeling wrap his arms around him. Dick felt a little sheepish as he too wrapped his arms around him. Despite the man's immaturity during his teenage years, Dick still missed the guy. His comic relief sometimes was priceless.

He pulled back and Dick shuffled sideways finally revealing Raven. Her face was bright and sincerely smiling a warm grin. Unsure of the expression, the green man gave her a matching smile. He clumsily took a step forward and quickly pulled her into a heartfelt embrace. He waited for the resistance, he waited for the remark, and he even waited for the pullback. There was nothing. Her slender arms engulfed him reassuringly. They slowly pulled apart.

She was the first to speak. "It's good to see you, Gar."

He looked surprised at first, but the toothy grin soon returned. "You too, Raven."

The changeling took a few steps back to gaze at them all in his line of sight. Something seemed to click in brain suddenly. All three of them were hear. All Titans, minus one. The Titans were visiting him. Something was wrong. Something was extremely wrong. Dick would never call upon any of the team unless there was something he couldn't fix, which was extremely rare, almost impossible these days. The solemn look Garfield had adopted was now mirrored on all of their faces.

They needed him.

"What's happened…?"

_888_

Garfield's return back to the Titans was instant. As soon as the word 'Slade' slipped from Dick's mouth the changeling had agreed to come back. Garfield had been the last to leave the team all those years ago. Ever since, he had been longing to find something else that he could fit so perfectly into, that wasn't saving the world. Somehow owning a games store was as close as he could get. He would be forever known as Beast Boy. Green skin wasn't something one could easily dismiss. Everyone knew who he was, or had some sort of idea. He loved that. He loved the recognition he received. These days, only the small time nerds of Jump city knew who he was. They envied his special powers and not to mention, his video game store was probably the best in Jump. He wasn't needed by the public anymore, so he found this. These teens needed him. He was a role model, someone to look up to. It was just about the closest thing to saving world an ex green skinned gamer could get.

Now, the four of them sat comfortably in Dick's luxurious car. Garfield was more than thrilled to be back with the old team. He was talking nonstop and asking way too many questions. He loved the Titans, always had and always will. The Titans didn't quite understand how much they meant to Garfield. This was all he knew. The Titans were his life, and that was something he would never admit.

"So what's the plan for Vic?"

Kori turned to the green skinned man. A worried look crossed her face before she looked to the dark haired woman in the front seat. Raven twisted her neck to look back, meeting the princesses' gaze.

Silence.

"We don't have a plan," Raven finally said what everyone was thinking.

Gar grimaced before putting a finger to his chin in deep thought. Victor was definitely not going to easy, far from it. It was going to take a lot of convincing_. Maybe Raven could use her powers_, But that was kind of beside the point.

"Well, he's definitely not going to want to see Dick," he began enthusiastically, as though it were perfectly logical, "especially after what you said to him…" the changeling trailed off, suddenly realising what he had said. He licked his lips awkwardly.

Dick raised an eyebrow, slightly irritated at the thought of the memory and looked into the rear vision mirror, eyeing Garfield. Unluckily the changeling looked at the mirror, catching Dick's look. He instantly looked away, delivering an awkward chuckle.

Suddenly, as if struck by an idea, his eyes brightened and his hand movements quickened as he began to speak. "So I think that me, Kori and Raven, should stand in front, and Dick can stand behind us. Good plan?"

The dark haired girl rolled her eyes. "Totally."

_888_

Koriand'r stood on the left, Garfield in the middle and Raven on the right. Dick stood behind them.

"This is the worst plan… ever," Raven commented lamely, looking towards Garfield.

"Did you have a plan?" he asked, raising his eyebrows in fake surprise. She just looked at him. "Yeah, didn't think so," he retorted quickly.

Dick sighed, shaking his head gently. "Just ring the door bell."

Kori looked over her shoulder at the grim man behind her and gave him a supportive half smile. He could see right through it; she knew herself it wasn't convincing, but she would never stop trying. They were so close. Garfield, slammed his finger into the door bell. The faint sound of a few dings echoed through the house behind the door in front of them. A dog let out a few howling barks. The gang suddenly grew silent.

The faint sound of a deep voice shouted, "I'll get it!"

_Victor._


	8. Failure

_Oh my god. I'm so sorry. I've been stressing that I haven't got this up on time. I've been working, partly moving and starting all my uni work. Ahhh. Sorry!_

**_Thank you so much to my beautiful and patient reviewers. I apologise again for keeping you waiting. You are all so amazing. Lots of love! _**_I think I replied to everyone, if I didn't I'm sorry! _

_Mmkai. I struggled mega with this chapter, but managed to just smash it out almost in one night. Again, I'm not super happy with it. After writing it, I wish I could've popped some more memories in there. But, I needed to get this up. I can always add them in the next chapter, or revise later on when I have some free time. Oh, and there's also this random memory that I wrote agessssss ago that I threw in. It doesn't really gel now. ldshsdfksd. _

_Eugh. ANYWAY._

_Disclaimer: Don't own the stuff. Besides the plot._

_Please, read and **Review, it makes my heart melt :).**_

* * *

><p><strong><em>Reconcile<em>**

_Chapter Eight: Failure._

The bolt unlocked with a loud clunk. The metal door swung open, revealing the large African American man. He was dressed neatly in beige dress pants and a white collared business shirt with a black tie that had been loosened, dangling comfortably low down near the beginning of his abdomen. His sleeves had been rolled up, revealing his cybernetic arms and hands.

His face was instantly surprised. It soon faded to a saddened and thoughtful expression. What were they doing here? It had been five years. He wasn't sure what to make of the situation. He looked from left to right, meeting all of their gazes for a moment.

Their faces looked upon him, hopeful. Dick so desperately wanted to speak, to say something, to say sorry, but he just couldn't move or speak. The others, unsure of what to say decided to keep silent, even Garfield.

The Cyborg blinked. His expression quickly changed. His eyes narrowed slightly as his hand gripped the metal door tighter. The face was now cold and rejecting. Smoothly, he took a step back and swung the door closed. It shut loudly, echoing through the house.

There was no sound or movement after that, from neither side.

Dick swallowed hard. Were Victor's feelings about the team so… hateful?

Kori turned her attention to Raven. They looked at each other, completely at a loss as of what to say or do. Why had Victor almost literally slammed the door in their faces? Raven turned back to Dick who was standing behind her expressionless. She could feel the solemn thoughts attacking his mind. She took in a slow breath before releasing it in a light huff, trying to gain Dick's attention. Maybe to send him a saddened smile, or a comforting concerned look or –

"Vic, who was that?" they heard a female call from inside.

Dick looked up, meeting the amethyst gaze.

"Victor?" the feminine voice called again.

With a creak the door handle turned and the door swung open. Her face was surprised as theirs. Dr. Sarah Charles. A woman all of the Titans had met numerous times, being a scientist at S.T.A.R labs, and a close friend of Victors for a number of years.

She was also of African American decent. She had short black hair, the fringe cascading diagonally across her forehead. It was a 'Rihanna' style haircut, probably the worst way describe it, but it was true. Her face was fierce, but also friendly. Her highly arched eyebrows were raised in disbelief. Her thick lips were parted slightly.

She was dressed in light denim shorts and a flowing creamy linen button up shirt. Beneath that creamy fabric was a large bump, suggesting that she was probably pregnant.

She smiled suddenly, her pearly white teeth poking out suddenly. "What a pleasant surprise," she opened the door wider, revealing the cybernetic man again. He hadn't moved.

He was standing so still it was almost frightening. His eyes narrowed again, unwelcoming. It seemed he was trying to calm himself. Any_thing_ might push him over the edge. Raven licked her dry lips as she waited for something to happen.. anything. But no one was moving, not even an inch. Sarah, utterly lost for words looked to Vic and her expression fell. She could tell what he was thinking just by looking at him. The emotion on his face was crystal clear. Fury.

"Vic?" she looked incredulously at the man, captivated by his sudden sternness.

"No."

She looked back at him, bewildered at his simple response. "Victor?" she asked again, befuddled by his odd behaviour.

"I said no, Sarah," he reiterated his statement. "I never want to speak to them again," he spat, looking directly at the group before turning his back and walking into the kitchen, from what they could see.

She swallowed, an apologetic expression coming to her face. She wasn't sure what to do. She couldn't just shut the door in their faces. She had known them, all of them – on a professional superhero level – but she knew them none the less. They all looked so anxious. It was like the world depended on Victor's decision. Her face faded to the matching anxious faces in front of her. Because it probably did.

"What's this ab-"

Dick stepped inside, acting on impulse, completely disregarding what seemed polite or proper. They needed Victor. He needed Victor. Karen blinked at his brash action, slightly taken aback. He continued his impetuous behaviour, brushing it off and quickly making his way through, what looked like from the corners of his eyes, a completely stainless steel kitchen. If he hadn't been so focused on his mission, he would've smirked. It was Victor through and through. Sleek, modern and high tech.

He rounded the corner and was met with a dead end. A humongous twelve seater aluminium table was directly in front of them. Behind it stood a cement wall decorated with some crazy modern artwork made from car parts, supposedly resembling something thought provoking. He tore his eyes away and spun around. He noted the shiny metal disappearing from sight to his right. Stairs.

He followed quickly down the wrought iron stairs, entering the lounge, judging by the large projector screen against the wall and sleek rounded black leather couch that looked similar to the one back at Titans Tower all those years ago.

He was too busy taking in the sight of the architecture to notice the large black man giving him a look that could kill. His eyes were still narrowed and his brows furrowing so much that they were almost touching. His mouth twisted into a snarl, about to let rip whatever was swimming in his mind.

For some reason, he held back. "What do you want?" The tone was low and dark, masking his wrath slightly. It sounded almost disappointed.

Dick licked his lips, unsure of where to start. Apologies or intentions? "Vic," he began shakily as his face slipped into a saddened look, "I'm sorry."

"What do you want?" He deflected the heartfelt words coming from his ex-friends mouth. He was still stern.

Dick swallowed. Obviously the apology hadn't been the right plan of attack. He had to join. He had to. How could he not? They were the Titans.

Determined, Dick tried again. "We need you," his voice was soft and emotive. He was trying to be as truthful as possible. There was so much he wanted to say, but nothing was coming to mind. "I need you," he let it slip, even softer than before.

Defensively, Victor flared up. "You need me?" He scoffed, amused at his old friends emotional statement. "You made it crystal clear that you would never _ever _need me again," he spat, his fists clenching.

Dick noted the hand movement. He was trying to do this as softly as possible, but the part robot was still bitter. Fair enough, considering what the former team leader had said to the cyborg. The words had been harsh and cruel. He wished he could've taken them back.

Five years had passed; Dick thought Victor would've developed a softness for his ex-team over their time apart. He thought he would've been at least slightly nostalgic. Even a little bit. But none of that seemed present, at all.

"It's different now," Dick defended.

It was different. He was older. Unlike his mentor, he knew when to ask for help.

"How is it different, Dick?" Victor's voice was echoing off the cement walls, making it ten times louder than it actually was.

"It's Slade, Vic!" He suddenly realised his voice was rising. Consciously he paused for a moment, gathering himself. "I can't do it alone this time."

Victor was silent. The mention of their former arch enemy sent his thoughts stammering. All his wits were screaming at him. Slade was _dead._ He had watched the man plunge to his death. They all saw it. But.. somewhere deep inside, maybe it was a gut feeling, was telling him something different. Why else would the whole teamed have turned up at his door step after five years of no communication?

But he didn't want to believe it. He didn't want to deal with this. It wasn't his problem anymore. It was Dick's problem. Dick was the guardian of the city and it was his problem now. _He doesn't need me. He was always perfectly fine by himself. _He kept telling himself the same thing, that he wasn't needed and trying to bury those boiling contradictory feelings rising in his gut. He had a kid on the way and beautiful wife. He had so much to lose.

Plus, he didn't want a repeat of last time. "Don't you remember our last fight, Dick?" the reminder was calm and collected.

The white man winced, not too fond of the memory. "I do, Vic."

"I don't want another repeat."

Victor's face was calm and regretful. It was the first time since their meeting a few minutes ago that Victor's face was displaying any other emotion besides anger. Dick felt touched for a moment. It was nice subtle confirmation that Cyborg still had fond memories of the team. They were still there, just buried behind the hate. They had betrayed him after all. They were his family and they had all turned their backs on him.

Feelings of guilt aroused between the two as the silence dragged on. Victor realised he too had turned his back on his family. But it was too late now.

"Please," he stated simply, masking the emotions swirling within him, "leave."

"Vic-"

"Dick," he warned, the anger flashing in his face. "_Leave_." The command was strong and stern. Powerful.

The younger man waited. He waited for the African American to suddenly start laughing, to say he was just playing a joke, to say that he wanted in, to say that he at least would consider it. But he didn't. He had been anxious for this moment ever since he began this journey, but he hadn't expected this answer. He really hadn't expected Victor to turn him down, to turn the whole team down.

The face didn't change. It stayed the same. Solid and fixed. He wasn't moving, nor was his expression.

As if it hit him all at once, Dick turned quickly and bolted for the stairs. Rage was taking over. He was absolutely furious, at Victor, at the team, more so at himself. How had he let the team diminish to.. this? He couldn't believe he had let this happen. He lived in the same city as two of the other Titans for Christ's sake. He had never dared to contact any of them. He had thought of it many times, but failed follow through.

He had forgotten how broken they really were. Victor had finally shocked him into reality. He had to stop lying to himself. They weren't the Titans anymore and they probably would never be again. They had all left in such a shattered state, without mauling over their feelings. They had left with feelings of hate, disappointment and sadness. That's how they all still felt. They still had all the bad memories of being with the Titans. How could he have been so selfish?

Victor had a sour taste left in his mouth and he had every right. Dick hadn't always been the best leader.

His anger swirled into disappointment as he ascended to the top of the stairs. His eyes glazed over, losing their focus as he followed his entrance path. He saw a blurred Sarah still standing at the door, still shocked, but more so confused. Amethyst eyes caught his. They were dark, waiting for a response from the ex-leader. His stern face and lack of company provided the answer quickly. Her expression flashed to a look of apprehension. The world blurred around her face as he made for the front door. As courteously as he could he shuffled down the hall and past Sarah out into the open space of outside, head now down. The three parted, Kori and Gar to the right and Raven to the left, letting Dick escape rapidly to his luxurious motor vehicle.

The green man swallowed, scratching the back of his head uneasily. "Uh, Sorry.." he mumbled, "sorry Sarah," he continued, a little louder this time.

"No.." she began empathetically. "It's okay."

"Goodbye, Sarah." Kori gave her a gloomy smile, being the only one willing to finally end the abrupt visit.

Raven turned, heading down the path, followed shortly by Garfield. "I'm sorry," the African American woman whispered, gripping the door.

The two exiting adults looked back, catching a last sympathetic look from the pregnant woman. Raven quickly turned back, leaving Garfield to gaze at the young woman. Kori, with a melancholy look, turned her back and followed suit after Raven.

Garfield swallowed again as the tall and tanned woman brushed past her. Garfield gave the pregnant woman one last look, along the lines of desperate and yearning. He missed his best friend.

He pulled himself from the moment upon hearing the car doors open and close. Quickly, the changeling spun around and b-lined straight for the black car.

_888_

They pulled into the driveway. The gravel from below the car crunched as the vehicle stalled to a halt. His hands didn't move from the wheel, they continued to grip it tightly, exactly the same as when he first got in the car at Victor's twenty minutes ago.

They had been in silence the whole way back. No one dared to say anything. The team was barely even together and they didn't need a stupid comment messing up the already tense situation. Not even Garfield attempted to say anything. None of them were sure what was to happen from here. It was all up to Dick, and he didn't look to be in the best state of mind to make a decision.

His gaze didn't change, still looking mindlessly in front of him. His right hand went for the keys, switching the ignition off and the engine switched off. His hand dropped to his lap. "I'm going for a drive."

Garfield's eyes widened, perplexed. He looked to the alien beside him and a glimpse of trepidation crossed her features.

"Alone," he bolstered with a darker tone, noting the looks being exchanged in the back seat.

With a small shrug, the green man slowly exited the car, slamming the door shut. Kori's eyes gazed into the driver's rear vision mirror, getting a good look at the face of the defeated leader. His blue eyes were downcast now. They narrowed for a moment, before easing open again.

Hesitantly, she reached for the door handle. She kept the wary look as she glanced at Raven, who met her eyes, before gracefully exiting the car.

Raven eyes quickly swapped, observing the dark haired man in the driver's seat beside her. Her gaze was tender and gentle. Her intense amethyst eyes roamed his face for any change of expression. She was about to reach for the door handle when his eyes looked up at her. His eyes conveyed uncertainty, before glazing over again leaving him looking slightly pensive. She could feel his mind barrelling at a hundred miles an hour. His thoughts were skipping from one to another. They were complicated and heavy. She thought to intervene, but that would only make it worse. Deciding it was best to leave him brood on his own, she reached for the door and opened it.

He mumbled something incoherent making the sorceress turn back swiftly to face the man. His eyes were set straight in front of him, fixed on something unknown to her and his hands gripped the wheel firmly again. She waited for him to repeat the inaudible string of words, but his mouth never opened.

Defeated, she slipped out of the car and pushed the car door shut, thudding as it collided with the frame of the car. The engine roared to life as she stepped away from the vehicle. The tyres struggled to grip the gravel, sending sprays of gravel flying as the car finally screamed back down the driveway in reverse. The car sent out the sounds of the engine revving before the squeal of tyres filled the air, soon after the noise of engine died out.

The pale woman looked at the overly tanned woman standing almost beside her. The princess' face broke into a weak smile before she enveloped the shorter woman in a tight hug. "Raven," she whispered.

Raven instantly replied by wrapping her arms around Kori. A sappy grin made its way onto the empath's face. The two women had a lot of catching up to do.

_888_

She breathed in the steam billowing from the mug buried in her pale hands. She wasn't quite sure what she was doing or why she was doing it. Apparently it was good for your throat. Because she totally needed to protect her throat.

Today's events had somehow taken a toll on the young female. Despite not seeing Victor for five years, she obviously still cared for the man; otherwise she wouldn't be sitting in Dick's over-sized kitchen with a mug full of herbal tea at the breakfast counter at 4.56am. With a deep exhale, she took another sip from the hot mug.

There was a light scuffle of sound coming from outside of the kitchen. Her eyes flickered to the entrance of the kitchen, waiting. At this point, any guess was a good one. It could be any of the Titans, but if she knew hi-

A dark figure entered the kitchen dressed fully in a dark suit. Dick. He still had his Nightwing costume on, minus the mask. He shovelled a hand through his dark locks before making his way to the kettle sitting on the bench across from where she was sitting. He flicked the switch on the base of the kettle, before turning to face her, leaning his lower back onto the edge of the counter.

"Late night patrol?" She quizzed, putting her mug down on the bench.

He nodded. "Couldn't sleep," he admitted with an easy shrug. The patrol had obviously done him some good. His mood was light and easy. He'd had time to process the events from earlier in the day. Probably kicking some scummy arse had also helped.

"Same."

The tip of her finger traced the rim of her hot mug.

"Are you okay?" She questioned softly, giving him the option of not replying, like he used to with her back in the day.

His eyes narrowed for a moment, pondering the question. A few moments later, the reflective expression dropped from his face, being replaced by a content smile. "I will be."

A comfortable silence filled the room, which was soon after disturbed by the rumble of the high tech kettle. She felt like she had to say something, but she wasn't sure what it was. She kind of felt like a D and M was in order, but it seemed too early in the morning for that, way too early. She didn't really want to affect his now relaxed mood after it had taken him all night to rid him of his anger. He needed to talk about what happened with Victor, but as mentioned before, it wasn't the time. None of them knew what had taken place inside the house except the two. She needed to know, the whole team did, otherwise their next step would be unclear.

Her mind swirled back to what was to happen now. Dick hadn't spoken to any of them the night before. He had been out driving before returning late and heading out for a night patrol of the city. She wasn't sure whether he was going to cancel the whole mission.. no. That wasn't Dick at all. He would carry on. They would sort this out.

"Can I show you something?" his voice broke the silence.

She looked up, not realising she had let her gaze drop. He now had a mug of black coffee in his hands. A soft grin decorated his lips and his blue eyes shone. The patrol had definitely done him some good.

Her face brightened seeing his expression. "Definitely."

She slid of the high bar stool as an old image passed through her mind.

_I _

_Raven slithered slowly down the steel door. Drops of cold sweat were running down her back, making the metal feel cooler than it was. It was making her skin prickle. She could feel the nooks of her spine scrape the hard surface; it would've been painful, if she wasn't so deep in thought. Her bottom gently hit the floor and her body swayed, threatening to slump forward. Quickly, she snapped her hands out to stop herself from falling flat on her face. Her palms pressed against the soft carpet. Her toned arms managed to keep her weight, shaking slightly under the sudden pressure. Her breath was ragged, short and sharp. She was almost wheezing, completely exhausted. She was drained, mentally and physically. Her muscles ached, her head was throbbing; everything was just so painful._

_She wanted to pick herself up from the floor and drag herself to the shower. She wanted wash her grimy body free from the blood and dirt. The smell of soil and pine was comforting to her though, making her dismiss her dreams of rinsing herself clean. The smell was fresh and somewhat clean. She was surprised she couldn't smell the blood. It was a rather potent scent of soil too. She frowned. She guessed she probably had clumps of dirt clotting in her nose. That almost nose dive into the close by protected park hadn't exactly ended well. A few grazes, bruises, broken bones and a face full of dirt later, she had emerged from the forest, staggering towards her bickering and battered team._

_She wished she could stand up and just walk, but her body was fatigued. It was ready for a good 48 hours' worth of sleep, at least. But she couldn't. She had to shower, put herself to bed and be prepared for another day with the crumbling Teen Titans._

_She felt something warm dribble down her chin from her mouth. Oh god, she mentally groaned, am I drooling? She felt it drip. It hit her thigh lightly. And then it dripped again. She didn't even have the energy to wipe the substance away with her hand or to even lick it up. Her head dropped, almost slamming her chin into her sternum. It was something worse. A splattering pool of blood had gathered at the peak of her thigh, and was now dribbling down the right side of her dirt stained quadricep muscle before crashing into the soft blue carpet._

_Blood. Her lethargic finger tips stretched out slightly, trying to touch the warm substance, for reasons unknown to her. She just wanted to touch it. Her fingers longed for the touch of the liquid, but her arm wouldn't move. _

_The thumps coming for the lounge become prominent. They were substantially louder than before, adding to her already painful headache. The fight outside must have escalated. Another all-out fist brawl had probably begun between the two most stubborn members of the team. She mustered enough energy to smirk. She knew who the winner would be._

_The thumps died down quickly and so did the pounding in her head. She thanked Azar mentally. She sniffled. That was probably blood too. It dripped three times. She watched the substance explode as it touched her leg, leaving a little spray diagonally across her leg. It was just so fucking interesting._

_The door swished open. Before it even registered in her mind, her body reacted, startled. Her expression instantly turned to shock as her arms collapsed. Her forehead bashed painfully into the cement floor disguised by a few layers of softening and carpet. The rest of her body followed, jolting backwards slightly from the collusion with the floor before crumpling sideways, landing her in an awkward foetal position._

"_Shit, Raven," the voice hissed as a dark leg stepped over her body. She took one guess to who it was._

_A strong hand slipped underneath her waist before snaking all the way up her back and finally resting four fingers on the back of her neck. The other weakly wrapped around her knees. Cleverly, as her body was raised into the air, she rolled over, crashing lightly into his chest. He huffed lightly at the deadness of her weight. He gave her a staid look. _

_His face then turned blank. Actually, it was hard tell with that irritating mask on. Without thinking, a sudden burst of unknown energy made her hand reach for it. Attentively, she gripped the edge the right side and pulled at it lightly. Slowly it began to peel off, centimetre by centimetre. Her lips parted, eagerly waiting for the sight of his reassuring blue eyes. _

_The mask fell limp in her hands. The reassuring look wasn't there. Sadness and concern took its place. It was a different look for him. She smiled at the beauty that it somehow gave him. He gave out some sort amused scoff, which came out more like a cough before delivering a soft grin. She watched as a crack in his lower lip split. Blood began to pool. He ran his wet tongue over it, trying to catch it before it dribbled down his chin and onto the delicate beauty in his hands._

_The door hissed shut automatically. _

_The mask in her hand had vanished. Maybe she had dropped it. Her attention switched back to the devouring blue eyes and murky face above her. His right eye was swollen and puffy, only allowing him a slit to see out of. The beginning stages of a black eye were appearing. In a few hours it would be a fully-fledged purple, black and yellow rimmed eye. It was going to be a pretty hefty one by the looks of it._

_She could feel him moving, slowly and cautiously, towards her bed. _

_She could feel the muscles pulling tautly under his skin. She could feel them working hard, to keep his body going, to keep him going. He was exhausted, she knew, they both knew, but he kept pushing through it, hoping it would end soon. He had a feeling it was soon, so did she._

_A soft greeting from her mattress beneath her made her close her eyes in relief, almost delighting in the fact she had made it to her bed, not by herself, but made it there none the less. The well-formed hands slinked away from her slender frame. The mattress dipped slightly to her right; signally the young adult carrying her was now joining her on her bed. She opened her eyes faintly, wavering slightly as she did so. _

_His face appeared soon after. It was a thoughtful expression. She felt a finger slide gently up her chin, wiping away the messy blood._

_He wished he could tell her how she looked. He wished he could say something to comfort her, but there were no words to describe how either of them felt. He felt broken and she just looked numb. Her eyes had lost their focus, glazed over, dull and extremely blood shot. He wished he could wave a hand in front of her face and laugh. Laugh at how fucked they looked. At how fucked they felt. He felt fucked. He wished he could, but there was no energy._

_A small drizzle of blood escaped her nose, running down to lip and falling into her slightly parted mouth. He swallowed. He could taste the blood himself. Gravelled and grimy grazes decorated the left side of her face. They looked absolutely disgusting. Blood mixed with dirt and rocks, a breeding ground for an infection. Her landing in the forest obviously hadn't been a graceful one. She skinned and scraped her left leg, sporting the same bloody mix of soil and rocks. Her pale skin was dirtied with soil and mud marks. Spots of blood featured occasionally and somehow, despite how fucked she looked, she still looked beautiful. He wanted to take her to the shower. He wanted to wash away the failure they had just endured. He wanted to heal her. Heal. _

_His eyes turned to slits as his memory had lapsed over something important. She could heal. Why wasn't she healing herself? The scrapes and bruises should have been disappearing by now, but they weren't._

"_Stop," she croaked out, her painful eyes meeting his. She had been reading his thoughts._

_She was just too fatigued to continue. There was nothing left in the tank. Nothing at all._

_A faint sound of heavy thuds filled the silence between the two. They didn't dare tear their eyes away from each other. They got louder, slowly. The dark haired male took a wild guess at who it was. He'd put most of his energy into the fight they'd had fifteen minutes ago and wasn't betting his body could stand another lash of beatings. He was amazed that the tin man was still running; his batteries were bound to be close to being almost dead. The footsteps were still getting louder, close now. He was making his presence known._

_Slam. Raven winced at the loud thrash against her metal door. Slam. She swallowed, looking tiredly at the blue eyed boy. Slam._

_He didn't even have the energy to retort some hurtful insult at the cantankerous African American outside his door. _

"_I QUIT!" Victor screamed as much as could through the hard metal. "I HOPE YOU'RE FUCKING HAPPY, RICHARD!" He screamed again. His eyes broke contact with Raven._

_That was it. The end. _

_His mind spiralled, unsure of what to do next. The Cyborg's steps slowly retreated. That would be the last time he would ever hear Victor's voice. The last time he would feel Victor's presence. The last time the Teen Titans would ever be together. _

_His expression lapsed into despair and a chocked sob ripped from his throat. He tried desperately to subside his pained sobs, but his emotions were too built up to stop. A cold thumb gently swiped across his cheek. He looked down. Her bloodshot eyes were now welled up with tears, threatening to spill._

_He noticed the clear liquid streaming down his own face. It was warm and salty, he noted licking his lips. His face turned blank as the emotion was now pouring from him in the form of tears, dripping onto her face. He was crying._

Please don't. Please don't.

"_Please, Raven, Don't…"_

_It only seemed to push her over the edge. It was too late. It was like she burst. Four tears sprinted down on the left another two on the right. _

_He shut his eyes._

_888_

He warily touched the wound, noting the dark crimson blood escaping onto the tips of his fingers. A grossed out snarl crossed his face before he pulled his hand away and grabbed the white Egyptian towel sitting next to him on the edge of the bath. Raven would kill him for staining her favourite towels, but he was too lazy to get out the others. He was tired, it was 6am and he was hungry.

He raised an eyebrow in amusement; Raven would kill him for letting himself get so slack out in the field. She would also be furious by the way he was doing his stitches. They looked appalling, but he wasn't planning on going to the hospital. Raven usually took care of these things. A good healing session and the wound would've already disappeared by now.

He sighed tiredly and yawn escaped from his open mouth. _Eugh_, he missed her… a lot. He loved coming home to company. She would be there, chillin' in her silk robe, tired eyes, but still smiling slightly. He would shower her with kisses before lifting her up and carrying her back to the bedroom. Sometimes if she was up for it, a cheeky morning sex session would be inserted into this routine.

As he finished tying up the left overs of his black stitches and mind wondered through the images of his absent girlfriend. He missed her smell. It was a cross between floral, musk and woody. She had been wearing it when they met. He smiled at the memory.

With one last tug and a painful wince, he scooped up the metal scissors placed next to the bloodied towl. He snipped the rest of the surgical thread off and placed the scissors back on the towel. He looked at his handy work. Oh, god it was awful. Almost four years with Raven had taught him to be lazy. He used to be so good at this.

He had to send her a picture. He wanted to hear her reaction. She would lose her shit. Quickly he swiped his phone sitting on the right side of him.

He slid his finger across the screen and madly began typing away with both hands. Finally, he raised the phone out in front of him and captured the image of his new scar digitally. He couldn't wait for her reply. He wanted to hear her. He needed to hear from her.

_Sent._

He locked the phone and stood up. He noted the skin pulling tenderly at the wound. That was going to take a lot of getting used to. His bright green eyes met the clean mirror in front of him that cascaded down from the ceiling over the large basin a few metres opposite him.

Another scar to add to his collection.

He had a few, most notably the giant asymmetrical x over his abdomen. It was exact replica of the x on his costume. He was young and arrogant back then. He hadn't expected the suit to backfire. But what had he expected when he stole the suit from the leader of the Teen Titans?


	9. X

_Yes, it's late. Yes, it's short. Deal with it :)._

_**Thank you to my three beautiful reviewers, who wrote three super long reviews**. Much appreciated, and you earned yourselves some extra written love -insert super love times here. Yeah, that's right._

_Chapter nine already, Jesus. Nothing super amazing in this chapter. It's bit fluffy/fillerish, however it needs to be done. _

_Disclaimer: Don't own any of it!_

_Now.** Read and you better review.** Yeah. that was a threat._

_Enjoy :)._

* * *

><p><strong><em>Reconcile<em>**

_Chapter Nine: X._

_He sighed heavily for the eighth time that evening. He had to admit this kid had made this suit rather well. There were numerous codes, computer overrides and all sorts of locks to decode this suit. However, it would be worth it's wait in the end. He had seen the suit in action. And fuck, it was a pretty kick arse suit. He'd had his eye on it for some time and now he finally had his hands on the thing. For a Cyborg creating the security systems on the Titans tower, it was a little lacking. Then again, who would be dumb enough to break into the tower. He smirked. _

_He would do the suit justice. He would actually use it, instead of keeping cooped up in a little glass cabinet under lock and key. He would do even better than wear the suit. He would improve it._

_With a few tweaks he could make it even better than it was originally._

_He didn't need the suit to kill the Titans or for world domination, he just wanted it to help do what he did best, steal. With this suit it would be a breeze. No one would know who he was behind that mask. He would also get the opportunity to annoy the shit out of bird boy at the same time. It was a win win situation. _

_However, back to the tweaking part. It was taking longer than he originally planned. All he wanted to do was make this trigger pull faster, so the X's from his palms would release faster and fly further. That's all he wanted to do. Was it simple? No. Of course not._

This kid and his fucking kill switches.

_With a frustrated huff, a burst of energy flew through his arm, quickly cutting the thick red wire with the small pair of surgical scissors in his right hand._

_He felt a suit vibrate with a slight buzz. _Bingo_. A satisfied smirk came to his face._

_Suddenly the X on his chest began to glow. His eyes widened in fear. The suit was booby trapped. Shit!_

_An intense pain surged through the skin on his chest. A long cry escaped his lips as it grew hotter and hotter, stinging his tender skin. _

_With lightning speed, he reached for the zip at the back of the suit as the burn became hotter and hotter. He felt the burn pierce his skin. A sickening scream ripped from his throat as other hand joined in yanking the zip downwards. _

"_FUCK!" he let the scream explode from his mouth, almost deafening as the zip caught itself half way down._

_The pain was searing now, he could feel the heat bubbling his skin, warping it. If he didn't getting this off soon, it would burn through his skin, presuming it was the chemical burning his skin. His face twisted into a disgusting snarl as his mind jumped to reflex. Burn. Water._

_His feet picked up speed and he already found himself in skidding into the bathroom, still wrenching forcefully on the zip. _

"_Oh fucking come on!" he was screaming desperately as the pain was getting to the point of excruciating. He could feel it corroding his skin, eating it away. _

_With one last jerk, it broke free and slid down easily. Without even thinking he peeled the suit off as fast as he could. He almost sighed in relief, as the top half of his suit hang down in front of him, fading the heat of the burn a little. He leaped into the tub, still ripping the last remnants of the suit off with one hand, the other reaching for the tap. With a quick flick the tap turned and the water exploded from its head. _

_The water hit his skin and he tossed the suit aside on the floor beside the shower tub. _

_He hissed as the cool water cascaded over the burn, sending it immediately from boiling hot to super cool. Fuck it stung._

_How could he have been so stupid? He should've realised when the suit prompted to be worn whilst changing its mechanics. He mentally slapped himself as the sting didn't subside. The cool liquid was running through his blonde locks now, soaking his head full of hair._

_His dry tongue ran over his teeth smoothly. How could he have let that happen? He was probably scarred for life now. Possibly. _

_With a hopeful look, he turned, his body now facing the mirror opposite. The look vanished._

_The sight was gruesome. The skin was a harsh red and slightly browning a little. Bubbles had formed in some areas, pocketing an oozing substance. The middle seemed to be the most affected. It was bordering on a bright red and a light brown. He had suffered at least a second degree burn. _

_His face twisted into a scowl. Stupid fucking idiot. He should've checked the suit fully before just launching ahead. He had to be so gung ho. He didn't think the kid was that smart._

_The outer edges of the X were less severe, bubbling and red, slowly fading back to the skin's natural appearance. _

_The sting was still there, throbbing in all directions across his chest. So fucking stupid!_

_A loud, rumbling grunt escaped his lips. He turned back around, unable to look at the now permanent brand on his skin. It only made him more irate. The sting was now mixing with a tingling feeling. He was now bordering on a third degree burn. A low huff escaped him as his fist slammed into the wall, cracking a few of the pearly white tiles and leaving a hefty indent in the plastered wall. He gently pulled his hand back and a few tile crumbs fell to the bath floor, scattering around his feet. _

_So stupid. _

_888_

He pushed open the heavy door with heave from his right shoulder. The door slowly swung open. It revealed a vast space. It looked familiar. It was like a balcony, but much bigger and so bare. However, that's not what captured her attention. The faint highlight of a golden orange in the distance promised a beautiful sunrise. Those same warm tones flushed through her cheeks, making her feel warm for a moment. She hadn't watched a sunrise like this in years.

It suddenly clicked. No wonder this felt so familiar, it was almost replica of the roof of the old Titans tower. It was even facing the right way, directly towards the sun. A smile donned her features.

"I hadn't realised how much I missed sunrises," she commented faintly.

He looked to her. The same smile grew on his face. "Neither had I."

She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Frowning, she presumed it was Jase. He should've been asleep. She dug a hand into her right hand pocket and pulled out the sleek phone.

_Jase._

She slid her finger across the screen and it came to light. It was random time to be expecting a text. Her jaw slid open and her eyes widened. A picture of a slick, long cut flashed across the screen.

_What the fuck Jase?_

Her expression had captured the attention of the male beside her. Curiously he asked, "What's up?"

She blinked, tearing her eyes away from the image to look at the black haired man. "Oh, just jase…" she trailed off. "He.. cut himself."

Dick shuffled a little closer to her to try and sneak a peek. He caught a glance before she shifted the screens view, allowing only her to see it. His eyes widened a little bit, actually surprised by the intensity of the cut. From the glimpse he managed to catch, it seemed pretty abnormal. Abnormal for 'cutting yourself at home.' But then again, she never really told him what Jason did for a living. Science and IT had been a vague answer. He realised that it was also odd to be sending her the photo at six in the morning.

Her eyes were back on the screen now and her fingers were furiously typing. She was clearly worried.

Dick, being rather inquisitive, decided to further the conversation, that was supposed to have ended abruptly by her comment. "How'd he do that?"

_Jesus fucking Christ Jase! What happened? Are you okay?_

She sent the quickly typed text. "I have no idea," she sighed. Dick frowned a little. Jason obviously got himself into trouble quite a bit. _Interesting._

_Btw, your stitch work is appalling._

She sent another text. It was true. The stitches were wonky and untidy, and generally just shocking. It was times like this she missed him. She missed him quite a bit during the day, on and off, but it was moments like these that made her realise how well they worked as a couple.

She wished she could've been there. She wished he could've opened the door to his companion and have her heal him, like she did most times. A wave of guilt slowly rolled over her. It was rare thing now, him actually doing the ground work himself, in person. The mob he was involved with was loaded with lackeys to their dirty work for them. Not that Jase was really into that. He was the, 'if you want it done right, do it yourself' kind of guys. He liked being out in the field. He loved the adrenaline. However, it was safer this way, now that he wasn't the only person in his life. It also earned him more money.

Every now and again he would go out as his alias, just to assert his authority amongst the city. Raven smiled. He could be so arrogant at times and way too proud, but she wouldn't have it any other way.

The phone vibrated in her hand.

_I'm cool babe. You owe me though. Some goon slashed me. New guy in town, I'm just showing him whose boss. I thought you might appreciate my handy work._

She rolled her eyes at his lame attempts to reference sexual favours.

_I'm sure you showed him whose boss. Please, get those stitches fixed. It'll keep me up at night._

She was being rude. With a shake of her head, she sent the message and slid the phone back into her pocket. She looked to Dick who was gazing at the favourable sunset ahead. "Sorry," she said softly, looking for his gaze.

"S'all good," he replied turning his attention back to her. "He did something stupid?"

The dark haired girl raised an eyebrow before frowning slightly, at a loss at what he was talking about. Her face softened as the sentence suddenly clicked in her brain. She smiled affectionately. "Of course."

He tried to return the tender smile, but it was futile, as he knew the smile was not meant for him. The half-hearted smile faded as he walked to the edge of the balcony. There were no railings, like the old Titans tower. She watched as he slowly sat down on the edge, letting his feet dangle mercilessly over the edge.

Her legs began to move and she started for the edge. Gracefully, she dropped her frame to sit next to him, also letting her legs dangle dangerously over the edge. She felt the phone vibrate against her tight. She ignored it.

The thoughts of Cyborg were still swirling around in his mind. All of his past regrets were still there. All of them. They were all about the team. All his 'should've, would've, could've's. He was beating himself up as always. He was still blaming himself.

Gently, she rested her head on his shoulder, a sign of comfort. His thoughts eased, they were distracted by the sudden weight on his shoulder. Her mind faded from his. He cast his gaze down upon her. She didn't need to look up. She knew the look he was giving her.

_I_

"_Why?" he asked, gripping the mug with two hands._

"_Why what?" she raised eyebrow as she took a seat opposite him. She could've believe she was doing this. There was Red X, sitting opposite her, in her own apartment. She should've been connecting to her powers; she should've been giving the police an anonyms tip. But she wasn't. _Why?

_He winced, as if it were painful to ask. "Why did you save me?"_

_She shrugged lethargically. "It _was_ my job…" she trailed off before taking another sip of her herbal tea. _

_Her mind wondered to her ex team. It had almost been a year and half since the team split. The others had obviously moved on, since she never heard of any of them, besides Nightwing of course. He seemed to have moved forward without any remorse rather quickly. It had been a year and half, and what did she have to show for it? Nothing. Just a bunch of overseas trips, a couple of thousands of books and a tattoo. Nothing. _

"_You could've dropped me at the hospital," he startled her from thought, "but you didn't." Why was he pushing this? She wished he would just accept the good deed and leave. Why was she letting him continue?_

_She shrugged again. "But I didn't," she reiterated his comment._

_He sighed, slightly annoyed. A silence clouded around them. Neither of them had any idea of where to go from here. They both didn't want to stay like this, in this awkward place, awkwardly conversing about awkward things. But, she didn't want him to leave and he didn't want to leave._

_Suddenly a smile crept to his lips. "Thanks."_

_Her eyes widened in surprise. He had just thanked her? Was he just smiling at her? His perfect teeth shone brilliantly through his well-proportioned lips. His eyes were genuine, expressing their thanks freely. Had she just found herself smiling a little?_

_The smile slowly faded, realising he had caught a glimpse of it. "You're even more charming without the mask," she noted with sarcasm._

_He scoffed, before letting out a deep chuckle. "It's the voice," he cooed smoothly. "The synthesizer totally ruins it."_

_She almost laughed, but managed to pass it off with an amused smile._

_He was beautiful to look at. He reminded her of Dick. Something stirred inside of her. A nostalgic feeling maybe? She frowned. No. It was sadness. She shook her head slightly, trying to shake the feeling. There was no use for it. She would never see him again. Ever. Except maybe in the paper or on the television, and that was hard enough. _

_Her hand darted to his thigh, persisting with the healing process. Her hand faded to black as he felt the same cool sensation from before pass through his thigh. It was a strange feeling. His green eyes rolled over her petite frame. He hadn't expected her to be so hospitable. She had saved his life, brought him back to the states and was now healing him. It had surprised him. _

_He also had expected to her to be so _beautiful_. That blue cape she used to dress herself in hadn't been flattering from any angle. He wondered why she was always hiding herself. There wasn't anything wrong with her from what he could see or sense._

"_How do you do that?"_

_She looked at him completely befuddled. "Do what?"_

_She hadn't predicted that he would be like this. Maybe his near death experience had frightened him into thinking about something other than himself. _

"_Heal."_

_She frowned, a little wary of his random question. Why was he so interested? "Uh, I…" she began a little hesitant and slightly embarrassed. His captivated look made her feel slightly at ease. It made her want to continue. "Well, I have to centre myself first…"_

_888_

Raven grinned. Kori obviously still hadn't learnt to wear underwear. She was flitting around in the kitchen with just an oversized shirt on. Her perky breasts were bouncing about whilst her constant moving occasionally caused her shirt to rise and exposed her bare arse.

Beast Boy was obviously enjoying the sight as he sliced through some of his tofu with his butter knife. He winked at Raven before raising both of his eyebrows at the alien princess, who was now at the gas hot plates cooking Raven and herself some poached eggs.

The dark haired woman rolled her eyes at the green man before gazing to her cup of tea. She hoped Kori's cooking had improved. She wasn't ready for poached eggs with any unexpected surprises.

"Morning," there was a call from the entrance.

She looked up. "Dick! Would you like some eggs?" Kori was a little over excited at the prospect of someone other than Raven enjoying, or at least, trying her cooking.

He chuckled deeply. "Yeah, thanks Kori."

She beamed a smile back before turning back to the stove. The maskless man made his way to the table, taking a seat next to Raven. He was dressed casually in dark grey track pants and white singlet. There was a slight glisten to his skin, suggesting that he had been working out.

"Morning," the pale female smiled slightly, pulling her mug of tea into her hands.

He gave her a stunning smile before reaching for the pot of coffee that had been placed in the middle of the table. Carefully he poured the hot liquid into a mug of his own and set the pot back down on the table.

All of a sudden, she felt at home. She felt like she had never left. It felt like they had never broken up. She looked back at Kori, then to Garfield and finally finished the sweep, her eyes landing on Dick. Yeah, she had missed this. The endearing feeling only lasted for a few moments, but it was nice.

The green man opposite the two spooned some tofu into his mouth. "Good choice on the tofu, Dick," he mumbled with a mouthful.

"You haven't changed Gar," Dick mused with a goofy grin and pulled his mug to his lips.

"How did you sleep?" he questioned in a sly tone turning to Raven. He carefully hid his mischievous smile by taking a sip of his coffee.

She let out an amused scoff only loud enough for the two of them to hear. She had hardly slept at all, thanks to him and he knew it. Her thoughts softened. Despite the tired feeling nagging at her body, she was glad she had stayed up with him. The sunrise had been beautiful that morning.

She was about to answer when a string of fancy ringing dings echoed through the house. It was the buzzer at the front gate of the mansion. All three Titans looked to Dick.


	10. Apologies

_BAM! SURPRISE UPDATE! _

_Haha, well it's long over due.. my bad.. but here it is!_

_Thanks to my lovely reviewers! (Some who actually kicked my arse into gear.) Sending out apologies and lots of lovely hugs to everyone who has been waiting for this chapter._

_H'ok. Nothing super interesting. Obviously, I struggled mega with this chap. Cyborg killed me, so he's probably a little OOC, accidentally. And as always, not super happy with it, but I had to get it up. Lots of mistakes. And a huge big warning, there is some major swearing in this chap. Like, a c word reference. Don't think less of me!_

_Enjoy!_

_And please review :)_

_P.S: Can't promise a quick update. In the midst of performing The Tempest._

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><p><strong><em>Reconcile<em>**

Chapter 10: Apologies.

His eyebrows rose faintly as all their gazes landed on him. A sturdy frown replaced the puzzled look a moment later. Who could possibly be standing at the gate of his house at this hour of the morning? He pushed back his chair and stood up. He swiftly turned and made his way to the electronic panel sitting on the wall beside the entrance to kitchen. He never had visitors, well, rarely. It was usually only the ones that bothered to stay in contact; Bruce, Alfred, Wally, Babs or Donna. Warily, he raised a hand and pressed a stern finger down on the intercom button. An image came to life. His jaw dropped and his expression eased into pleasantly surprised.

_Victor Stone._

"Vic?" Dick questioned with an edge of disbelief to his tone.

A small smile came to the cyborg's lips. His dark brown orbs gazed into the camera. "_Wanna let me in already? It's kinda hot out here_," his fuzzy deep voice boomed through the speaker.

Dick returned the grin and moved his finger to another button to the right of the screen. The sound of front gate clunking open could be heard through the speaker before the screen turned to black.

He turned around and was met with beaming grins. Garfield stuffed another spoonful of tofu in his mouth before poking his fork out at Dick and stating matter-of-factly, "I told you."

Dick raised a pragmatic eyebrow, "I don't think you did, Gar."

The green man brushed him off with a waving hand gesture before getting to his feet. "I totally did, but whatever," he tried to hide his grin as went for the entrance.

Koriand'r pranced quickly through the door after Garfield, flashing her behind once more. Dick pursed his lips at the sight. He stumbled slightly as a pointy elbow jabbed itself into his left side. He reached for the area as his head snapped to face the rather short woman casually walking past. She gave him a pathetic look before following out the door.

He grinned, feeling somewhat content. Maybe everything would work out after all.

888

Dick watched as Vic let himself flop onto the couch, making the sofa shift slightly at his sudden weight. The cyborgs movements were easy and heavy, like he remembered. He looked much more normal now. Dick presumed his wife, Sarah had played a role in that. He was no longer bald, he now had dark frizzy hair, shaved quite short, allowing him to maintain it easily. He was dressed casually in dark jeans and a grey shirt. He was still big, muscly and well built, but the technology aspect of him seemed much smoother and more advanced, but less flashy than it used to be. Again, he presumed that was thanks to Sarah, who had worked at S.T.A.R labs for several years.

"Jesus, Dick, the place looks like it's hardly been touched," the African American noted, his voice booming as his eyes wondering around the perfectly arranged sitting room. It was perfectly Bruce Wayne decorated, but with a modern twist. It was all white mixed with splashes of glass. Large windows decorated the wall opposite the couches, allowing a beautiful view of the well maintained lush green gardens just outside.

Dick flopped onto the large white leather couch next to him, but still maintained his distance, cautious. "That's because it doesn't," the younger man admitted, earning a frown from his old friend. "I've got another joint in town."

Vic raised his eyebrows in a moment of realisation before nodding a few times. Silence filled the room. It irked itself between the two old team mates. There were a lot of things that had been left unsaid between two, also a lot of things that had been said. A lot of hurtful insults hurled at each other in the heat of the moment. Now, these were the remnants left over, awkward silences, small idle chit chat and consciously cautious words, trying not to stir up bad memories from the past. It would be impossible not to, they both knew it. But who be the one to open old wounds? Who would be the one to begin the tiresome task of trying to patch up their broken relationship?

Dick sighed, only loud enough for himself to hear. He began all of this five years ago. It was him. He caused all these hard feelings between everyone. He made them doubt themselves. He became selfish and insisted they weren't good enough. He should be the man. He needed to be the man. He caused all this pain. He needed to apologise for all of those mistakes he made five years ago.

"Vic," Dick broke the silence with a soft voice, almost a whisper, "I'm sorry." It was short and sweet. His mind couldn't comprehend anything else. All he knew was that he was sorry. There were no excuses anymore. He had been enormously arrogant and pig headed. He had been the biggest prick in the entire world. Actually, the word cunt seemed more appropriate. At the time he didn't think that, but now, five years later, he was paying the price, serverely.

Victor scoffed as a smile came to his lips. The former team leader could see the creases in his cheeks caused by the smile. It was genuine. "Never thought I'd live to see the day Dick Grayson apologise."

_I_

"_Vic!" the teen, only slightly younger than him, called after him. "Get back here!" _

_He was poised perfectly in the middle of the towers lounge room, in between the sofa and the kitchen, facing the double doors leading to the hall. He was ready for a fight. His blood was pumping with adrenaline, angry and agitated that they had lost to a reoccurring villain only minutes before. His shoulders and arms were tense and firm. His eyes narrowed to slits. He needed to settle this right now. He needed to assert his authority, and quickly._

_The large bionic man spun around quickly, the anger flaring in his features. He was already half way up the stair case. "Don't fucking tell me what to do," he warned in a low and menacing growl._

"_I'm you're leader, Vic," Dick reminded him, trying to match his low toned growl. "You listen to me."_

"_Oh cause that worked so well 10 minutes ago!" Cyborg shouted sarcastically as a furious, contorted scowl now played on his face._

"_I couldn't see you doing any better," Dick shouted back, fuming. His fists clenched into balls and the stance of his feet widened subconsciously. He felt like a kid, shouting stupid comments in a useless fight in the middle of nowhere. But this robot needed to be knocked down a few pegs._

_Victor, furiously built up with rage, began his slow descent down the stairs. He was ready for violence. Anyone in his way would get a taste of his cantankerous mood with a metal fist to the nose, cheek or eye, probably all three if he concentrated enough. His eye narrowed as his movements were calm and controlled. He could feel the frustration pumping through him. All he wanted to do was knock the bird boys lights out._

"_Boys! You need to stop!" Kori injected from the kitchen, quickly heading towards Dick and stepping slightly in front of him. Her brows were furrowed as she kept her stance strongly and womanly. "This isn't going to get us anywhere!" Her high female voice only irritated the two men more._

"_Stay out of this, Star," Dick warned coldly; brushing his sight over her before landing his orbs back on Victor. She looked at him, slightly shocked. She couldn't believe he was behaving in such a way. She knew he had an ego, but this idiotic name calling was beyond Dick; beyond the both of them really. Dick usually listened to her, or at least took on board what she was saying. Now he was treating her with hostility before pretty much ignoring her. _

"_You're an ignorant little fuck, you know that?" Victor lashed out, venom dripping from his words. He was already at the base of the stairs. _

"_I could same the same for you," Dick spat, leaning forward, his stance ready for a fist fight._

"_Cut the crap, Dick, you need stop thinking you're better than everyone else, cause you're not," the Cyborg snarled with lightning speed, his face contorting angrily with every vowel and consonant. "Your head's way too far up your fucking arse to give a shit about what happens around you." He was getting closer. Only a few metres distance between them._

"_Cyborg!" Kori exclaimed, astonished at the language escaping their mouths._

"_No it's true," Dick defended his 'friend's' comments, still not taking his eyes from Cyborg to acknowledge Kori. "I can't keep picking up slack for the rest of the team. You're too slow. Your aim's off. You're not powerful enough. You're inadequate," The newly costume hero retorted with malice. _

"_Richard," the alien princess spun around, delivering a disgusted expression to her more than friend. She quickly flicked her head back to face Cyborg. "This is idiocy. You two are fighting merely because we lost to-"_

_She felt the cool metal of Victor's upper arm push her aside; she stumbled slightly to her left. Her jaw dropped, completely and utterly appalled at the behaviour of Victor. He had _pushed_ her out of the way._

"_Alright then," Victor smiled wickedly as only a few centre metres parted the two 'friends'. "_Nightwing,"_ he spat out, "you think you're better than me?" He questioned in a snarling growl. "Prove it."_

_Koriand'r turned, not prepared to watch two of her dearest friends engage in a useless fist fight. She swallowed, feeling her throat tighten. She could feel the floor beneath her vibrate as a sound of a thump and heavy grunt reached her ears from behind her. She had a feeling the team wouldn't last much longer._

_I_

Dick's guilt was too intense for him to even think about smiling. He remembered that fight all too well. It resulted in a black eye, a broken and a few bruised limbs. His face seemed to sink even lower. "All the shit I said… I can't believe I said-" Dick fumbled his words, trying to cram five years of reflected feelings into some sort of understandable speech. He stopped mid-sentence, trying to gather his thoughts. He expected the large dark skinned man to butt in, but he didn't.

He looked to his ex-team mate. His eyes darted over the darker man's features, looking for a response of some sort. A sombre and thoughtful expression decorated the cyborg's face, multiple creases rippling his forehead and his brows pressed downwards. His attention quickly flicked to Dick. "There was a lot of shit said," he agreed, his tone neutral and very calm. "A few punch ups too, if I remember correctly." His expression was still solemn and serious.

Dick was a little unsure to where he was going with all of this. He wasn't sure if the Cyborg was still mauling over this whole situation in his mind. It was like he was solving it by picking it apart aloud. He presumed the robot hadn't revisited these thoughts and feelings for a while until the team spontaneously turned up on the door step of his family home. "Yeah," Dick agreed, turning his attention to the large windows opposite, gazing at the lush garden outside.

That silence came back. It was a little less awkward this time, but more suspenseful. He obviously hadn't spoken to Victor in five years and wasn't quite sure what to expect to come out of his mouth. His sense of straightforwardness wasn't lost judging by yesterday's events. He was unsure if the tin man was still angry, guilty, ashamed, or accepting. The emotions he was expressing were unclear, and much more serene than Dick knew him to be.

Victor shrugged, confirming to Dick that he had accepted what happened between them all. "After five years of brooding, you'd think I'd be able to say more than that," Dick could sense the sudden light heartedness to his tone. His lip was tugged into a slight smile.

Dick turned his sight line back to the cyborg. He was indeed, expressing a small saddened smile. "I'd like to think so," Dick admitted truthfully. There was no point in lying, if they were start again on a fresh slate.

The sombre look dropped back onto the African Americans face. "I was pissed Dick," he stated, surprisingly. It seemed to be rolling out of him now. He was finding a way to express how he felt without anger, which was very unlike him, Dick noted. "I said a lot of hurtful things," He frowned, as if remembering. "Some of them I regret.. some of them, truthfully, I don't."

Dick's expression flashed confusion for a moment. The straight forwardness was slightly jolting, but he reminded himself that this is what he liked about Cyborg. He spoke his mind and it was all to your face.

"I was selfish and so were you. We wanted the same things, but had different ways of going about it," he paused, his eyebrows rising slightly, "Well that's sugar coating it, but it's close enough," he admitted with a slightly amused, but almost awkward chuckle.

"I don't regret that the team split up," he revealed aloud, which surprised himself, by the flash of a startled expression crossing his features. His robotic fingers twitched slightly, before clenching. He was reluctant to continue for a reason. He had no reason to lie to Dick, so why was he hesitant? "I got a new life, I've got a wife and a kid on the way," he shrugged, relaxing into himself. "But I do regret losing five of my closest friends."

Dick felt that little pang. He had been feeling that a lot lately. He wasn't sure if all this reuniting was the right thing to do, but it seemed to be easing his conscious. "I'd like to think a lot has changed in five years," the robotic man slid closer across the white leather to Dick. "We've both grown, Dick. We've changed."

Dick lowered his eyebrows into a thoughtful and self-loathing frown. "I'm not sure if it was for the better," he mumbled out.

Vic shoved him with a metal elbow. "Lighten up Dick," the African American smiled. "You have to learn to forgive others," the smile still played on his lips, "and yourself."

The infectious smile caught Dick unaware. He flashed his pearly whites for a moment before speaking, "you weren't so keen yesterday."

"Sarah's got a way with words," he chuckled deeply again, earning a bigger smile from his younger friend. "Like I said, I've been brooding for five years; I think that's long enough."

"Thanks Cy," he spoke tenderly, using the old nickname. "It means a lot."

"I can't promise you'll I'll stay, but I'm here for now." He slapped a hand across Dick's back in a loving manly gesture.

"I missed you, Vic," Dick admitted softly, but with a blokey touch.

"I missed you too, Dick," Victor gave him a wink before adding sarcastically, "and your spikey hair."

Dick chuckled, getting to his feet. "Unfortunately, you won't be seeing that ever again," he rolled his eyes as he motioned to his now silky smooth black locks that were little longer in length than they used to be five years ago.

"What a shame."

888

_He coughed, once, twice, several times. He could feel the blood pooling in his mouth, licking at the edges of his gums and between the cracks in his teeth. He could feel it leaking out the side of his lip and down his chin, slowly dripping on to the pavement below. Another grunt escaped him as he could feel the metal rod crash into his ribs for the umpteenth time. He was pretty sure he had three broken ribs by now. But it didn't matter. He just wanted it to be over. It was painful at first, but he was numb now. He could hardly feel it, except the occasional forceful hit. It was like he was on morphine, he could feel it happening to his body, but he just couldn't feel the pain. He knew it should have been pulsating through his whole body, searing hot and agonizing. But it just wasn't there. He was thankful he couldn't feel it, but he would eventually deal with it at a later point in time. If he even made it out alive._

_He was expecting another hit, but it didn't come. He held a shallow breath for a moment, still waiting. It had stopped, for now. Finally, he sighed to himself. A break. Relief washed over him as he heard the metal crow bar clatter to the ground, signally his attacker had finished. His muscles relaxed. It felt like they were melting away from him. He had been tensing so hard for that whole time; the release in pressure was almost euphoric. He could feel a small throb in his right side. Probably his three broken ribs._

_A hand gripped tightly onto his blood infested mop of blonde hair. It peeled his face off of the cement. He winced, the pain flooding back suddenly. His face contorted and a hopeless yelp escaped his lips as the full force of agonizing pain hit his body. The tension in his muscles had been masking the pain, and now that his muscles were relaxed, the full explosion of pain was more than he could bear. He could feel pain pulsating in his lower chest, making it hard to breath. He could feel it shooting down his lower left leg. He could feel it throbbing in his right hand. But his face.. his face was still numb. His heart quickened. Why couldn't he feel his face?_

"_Next time," the voice warned with a hoarse growl in his exposed ear. "Don't stick your nose into other people's business kid."_

_The hand released its grip and his face smashed painfully back into the pavement. He still couldn't feel his face. He sucked in a breath and instantly regretted it. A stab of pain twisted into his side, painful enough to make a sigh escape his lips and send him into a coughing fit. Blood exploded form his mouth and spattered across the pavement. Tears pricked his eyes as he struggled to inhale a small amount of oxygen._

_There was movement again. Not the kind he expected. They were footsteps, and they were fading. Finally, his attacker was leaving. It was over finally. Finally._

_He managed to suck in a small breath; just enough to soften his coughing without causing massive twisting stabs of pain. The mini celebration was stopped halfway. Yeah, it was over. But what now? He was stuck, half battered to death in an alley behind a bottle-o and a strip club. Who the fuck would find him? Fuck, who would find him and bother to save him?_

_Panic._

_Shit. Shit. Fuck. Cunt. Fuck. His breath quickened and small jabs of pain stabbed constantly in his side. The tears were streaming down his face, he had only released now that he had been crying. Had he been crying that whole time? What the fuck was he going to do? He could hardly keep his eyes open and all he could see was fucking cement. How the fuck was he supposed to get himself some medical attention? The pain in his side worsened, equalling in a distressed yelp._

Calm down_, he reminded himself. He needed to get his breathing under control if he was going to even think about moving. _

Okay_, he began his inner pep talk. _Just push yourself up. It'll be fine._ Gingerly, his muscles tensed, causing a minor tremor of pain to echo through his body. He attempted to use his arms to lift his upper body. The endeavour was short lived. Pain pierced his side excruciatingly. A cry ripped from his throat as his body collapsed back onto the pavement. _

_He could only pray that today wouldn't be his last. _

_I_

_The dark haired woman swallowed. "I didn't.. I didn't mean to pry," she struggled to push out the words. The images were way too vivid for her to simply brush over or forget. They were so real. It was almost as if she was there._

_He looked down, shifting his gaze to the floorboards beneath them. "It's alright," he mumbled in his deep tone. His right hand began to fidget a little. "I didn't exactly want to let that out on a first date," his expression lightened into a half-hearted smile._

_The same discombobulated face stayed on her features. "What happened to him?" she questioned, still sticking to her solemn expression._

_His eyes turned to slits as his body slightly turned away from her. "I think you already know," he whispered, before looking back at her darkly._

_Her eyebrows knitted into a frown as a wet tongue slid over her bottom lip nervously. "I want to hear it from you."_

_His lip twitched slightly as he turned back to her. "I killed him," he stated blankly. "Luckily for him, he received a quick death," he paused, unsure whether to mention his last thought, "a bullet to the temple."_

_Her gaze dropped and her hands gathered together in her lap. She was thinking, rather deeply. Her frown softened into something almost angelic. "That's how it all started."_

_His eyes wondered over her delicate face, solemn and angelic. He was searching for something. He wasn't sure what it was. Maybe it was forgiveness? Who knows? But he would know it when he saw it. Her thoughtful look continued. He pressed on, still searching, waiting for her to change. But it never came._

_His jaw tensed as did his muscles. He needed to move, or do something. He didn't need another know-it-all to be explaining to him his own actions in the past; he'd already had enough of those growing up. He rose to his feet and something cold gripped his hand._

_He looked down. It was there. That look he was searching for. Somewhere between empathy, forgiveness, faith and angelic. Her purple eyes shone, exposing the most extensive range of emotions she had ever revealed before. It was perfect, beautiful and everything that he needed._

_In an instant she was gone. Everything around him was gone. Utterly confused, he spun around before freezing mid motion._

_Before him stood a most hideous, terrifying and absolutely shell shocking image. He was perched on a high cliff overlooking a giant sea sized pit of sulphurous fire roared and ravaged just at his foot fall. Tall fire-destroyed towers peaked in the distance and explosions of fire and gasses blasted one after the other, never ending. The sky was a reflection of the ground, a large swirl of various oranges and reds, occasionally a blob of black. He could feel the heat on his skin, so intense, so dry and so hot. He blinked, feeling his eyes lose their sense of moistness. _

_His mouth gaped at the sight. He knew what he was looking at. He was looking at the fiery pits of hell. He was looking at Azarath, well, what was left of it. She was sharing a memory._


	11. Planning

_Wow. It's 12.21 am. It's late and I'm tired. I have work early tomorrow and I just pumped this out like a boss. I can't really promise anything amazing as I actually haven't.. really followed my normal process of re-editing multiple times and sitting on it for a few days. I think I might regret uploading this tomorrow morning.. TOO BAD!_

_Thank you to all my reviewers (Especially the three from the last chap ;))! I appreciate the love - and help!_

_Disclaimer: Don't own!_

**_Please Read and Review :)_**

**_Enjoy!_**

* * *

><p><strong><em>Reconcile<em>**

_Chapter Eleven: Planning._

She rested her right leg over the left in a cross legged position. She felt tired, more so than usual at this time of the morning. She had only been awake for a little over half an hour. Maybe it was the change in environment. Something niggled at the back of her mind, sensing she wasn't the only one in the room; it was enough to almost stop her from meditating. Of course, she knew better. She knew who it was. There was only one person it could be at this time of the morning. She opened one eye and slightly shifted her head to the right.

Dick appeared, his face instantly dropped, realising he had been caught. It recuperated into a smile. "You've gotten better with age," he spoke softly as crossed his own legs.

He was dressed casually in grey track pants and a black singlet, ready for a work out, she presumed. His hair was tied into that little high pony tail again.

"I know," she mused, a small smile coming to her lips.

He let out a deep chuckle, adding to her proud half smile. "But how's your technique?"

Her other eye snapped open, but before she could react, she was already sideways on the spring boarded floor, a slightly dull ache appearing in her side. Her eyes turned to slits. He wanted to play rough.

She was quickly on her feet, standing a metre or so from the dark haired man. A big sly grin played on his lips, his pearly white teeth showing. His biceps flexed as his arms moved into position – two clenched fists, the left slightly in front of the other – ready to fight. He stood a few heads taller than Raven. She was ever so slightly intimated by how tall he was, but her height was also an advantage. She could see he was getting impatient. His left eyebrow twitched slightly.

He launched at her with his right fist, which she easily avoided, moving to the left with a slide of her feet. Quickly he recovered, launching the other elbow sideways, narrowly missing her face as she stepped back. He paused. He was still smirking, and so was she now.

It was her turn. She came at him, with as much force as she could muster. She went for a right handed hook, which he caught easily. The sudden shock of her stopped arm caused a wave of pain to flood up her arm. Swiftly, she switched her weight from one foot to the other and lifted her left to deliver a kick to his side. Again, he caught it easily. He griped tighter on her arm and leg, making a point that she was stuck. He chuckled loud and low. She frowned, and then, using him as leverage she lifted her other leg off the ground as kicked it into the arm gripping her leg. As she did this she pulled her restrained arm further away from him, causing him to lean forwards. He dropped the grip on her, realising he was going to go head over heels if he continued to hold onto her.

She landed on all fours before returning to her natural stature. He was bent over, his head turned towards her. His grin was huge. "Someone's been practising," he commented slyly.

"I'm sure you're very proud," she countered with sarcasm. He chortled in reply before running at her again.

He launched himself into the air, looking ready for another hand attack. She braced herself for his attack, putting her arms up in a cross, and letting her feet fall into a 'surfboard' stance. Then he changed, sweeping his feet against her legs, bowling her over sideways. He fell into a summersault roll as her head cracked against the springboard floor. Before she had time to recover he was on top of her, pinning down her limbs carefully.

She blinked, looking slightly shocked. Her breath was quick and short. His blue eyes stared into hers. She blinked again, that blow to her head making her vision fuzzy for only a moment. His lips parted, taking in her appearance. Her hair was tied back into a plait, now billowing over her shoulder. Parts of his fringe had fallen loose, hanging limply across her forehead and down her cheeks. Her amethyst eyes were pensive. They were searching his eyes for something.

"Are you alright?" His voice was just above a whisper.

Absorbed, she nodded, "yeah."

The door swung open. The two looked to entrance. It was Victor.

"Hey – _oh_," the African American chuckled, his eyebrow arched high, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

Dick pulled himself up quickly, and leant a hand out to Raven who was still laying on her back. "No, no," Dick reassured him quickly, "I was just kicking Raven's behind, like the old days." That cheeky smile returned.

She sent him a threatening glare as she gripped his hand tightly. The large robotic man chuckled again. With a quick tug, Dick pulled the dark haired woman to her feet. She tugged the fallen bits of her long fringe behind her right ear.

"How about we start the training session, _Dick?_" Her voice was void of emotion, until the last word, pronounced perfectly, with a slight sarcastic inflection. Her expression was less than impressed.

"Let's."

_888_

It had been three days since they had first got here. Dick had given them three days to settle in. Now, it was time to get to it. It was time to start the case. It was time to delve into another psychotic case involving Slade. Truth be told, none of them knew what they were in for. Five years is a long time. Especially for Slade, a super villain. Technology had advanced tenfold. There was no telling what Slade could produce now. His boundaries were limitless, and that was terrifying, even to Dick. They were older now, more experienced, less naïve, but they had lives now, or blackmail, in other words. They were nowhere near ready, but as ready as they'd ever be.

The five adults sat around the large rectangular wooden table in Dick's conference room – yeah, Dick had conference room. The table could seat up to forty, so the five of them were situated in a small group in the middle of the setting, making the vast space they were sitting in look even roomier.

Raven shifted slightly in her chair, a mug of hot tea in her hands. She was looking at the projector on the wall opposite. It showed a large detailed map of the city, major landmarks and most importantly Slade's Targets over the past few weeks. They were random attacks with no suggestive pattern. They weren't important land marks either, just.. normal businesses.

Dick was seated beside Raven, his laptop in hand, connection the image from his screen to the large one in front of them. Koriand'r sat to his left, one leg crossed over the other, looking very thoughtful. Vic sat to the right of Raven, his own laptop resting on the table in front of him, but he wasn't paying attention to it. Garfield sat on the end, looking slightly confused, leaning back on his chair with his feet resting on the table.

"So what has he been stealing?" Raven queried, noting the targets. Her eyes furrowed into a frown.

"That's the thing, nothing important," Dick replied, looking side ways to her, his look equally concerned. Raven took a sip out of the black mug.

"Like what?" Victor called from beside Raven, his hands on the keyboard ready to type.

"Cables, wires, metals.. stuff like that."

"So.. to make something technological," Garfield spoke, dropping his feet to the floor and leaning in towards the others. He was trying to get in on the conversation. He had a habit in the past of falling behind in these discussions and having no clue what the ending conclusion was. He was determined to stay in it, no matter how stupid his comments sounded.

"Seems like it BB," Victor replied to Garfield, taking his eyes from the screen to look at green man for a moment before noting the conversation down in digital form.

"Nothing else?" Koriand'r's eyebrows rose, surprised by the lack of elaborate planning being established in a Slade case.

"No. Sometimes he just shows up to make his presence known," Dick replied sternly, before leaning back in his chair and looking back up at the big screen.

"Has Slade communicated with you at all?" Raven questioned again, her lips pursing as she looked at the dark haired man, her mug still cupped in her hands.

"Not directly."

"That's weird," Victor commented, his face screwing up into a scowl.

"Would he presume that you would call us back as team?" The alien princess quizzed, directing her attention to Dick. He looked to her about to say something.

He paused. "I don't know."

"So we could be a surprise?" Garfield jumped back into the conversation, managing to keep up. His tone was loud and excited.

"Possibly," Dick considered, his expression changing to a positive thoughtful look.

"Word gets around pretty quick though. Once they see Victor and Garfield running around the streets, it won't be such a surprise," Raven commented, pointing out that the two weren't exactly human looking.

"I just can't believe he's alive. Who survives a 42 story fall with a stab wound to the chest?" Garfield expressed his disbelief, his face matching his tone as he swivelled his chair around a little.

"Slade obviously," Raven countered monotonously.

"Maybe that's his connection to the kid? His saviour?" The cyborg interjected, lighting up at his sudden idea.

"This person could be doing it against his will, like Dick," Koriand'r rolled along with the idea, thinking the apprentice might be the right approach.

"But he could also be like Terra," Raven let the words slip from her mouth. Her expression was tainted with regret as soon as she had said it. She couldn't believe she had let herself say that. She looked to the green man at the end of the table. She could tell he was trying to put on a brave face, still, after all those years. She had hit a nerve.

_She didn't mean to._

She delved into her empathetic powers, just to see the consequences. She pulled back instantly. Victor gave her a sympathetic look before opening his mouth, trying to cover the sore spot, "Five years later… why now... why not just fuck with Dick personally, or each of us personally, instead of being all mysterious?"

Koriand'r could sense Garfield's sudden retraction from the conversation so she continued on, trying to keep their minds busy, "He obviously has another plan in mind."

"A much more elaborate plan. Like.. world domination style plan," Garfield was back in the conversation, trying to prove he wasn't as he weak as he had been, or as naïve either.

"Sounds like it," Dick agreed, nodding towards the green man.

"Dick, do you think this _person_ is breakable?" Raven questioned again, raising an eyebrow.

"Eh," he began as his face twisted into a thoughtful frown, "Possibly. It's our only promising way of getting close to Slade."

"If he's young enough, we might be able to," the princess pointed out as her hand went to her lips in thought.

"He has to be. Anyone working with Slade has some serious psychological issues," Garfield rolled his eyes as the words spat from his mouth in a distasteful tone.

"True," the large robotic man agreed, "The kid has to have motive. Personal motive," He looked at all the titans as he emphasized his last two words.

"Alright. So let's try and use the kid to spill his beans," Garfield smiled, rubbing his hands together in excitement. He had actually managed to keep up with the rest of the team for a change.

All of the Titans knew it would be harder than just 'getting the kid to spill his beans', but no one had cause to be negative at this point in time. It was their only exploration for now, considering Slade had hardly shown his face. So they would follow it through, no matter how stupid, crazy, hard or easy it might sound.

Dick was weary of the idea. The team would not run smoothly the first few times, perhaps not even at all. They needed to get their bearings, and this plan would be the perfect way to do so. "First patrol as the Titans will be Friday night," Dick mentioned sternly, shutting his lap top.

"Sweet!" the green man exclaimed, getting to his feet. He was already heading for the door. He was feeling hot and flustered. Maybe it was the fact that he was talking to his ex-girlfriend about his dead ex-girlfriend. Maybe it was the fact that his ex-girlfriend had made a sly comment about his dead-ex-girlfriend. He knew she didn't mean it, but it still affected him somehow. Whatever it was, it made him feel antsy. He needed air. He needed to be with himself, to run around like a crazy monkey in Dick's yard, without anyone around, watching him.

As soon as he had pretty much sprinted out the door, Victor looked to Raven. Her expression was troubled. She knew she had said too much.

She swallowed. "I didn't mean to.." she trailed off, her eyes switching to the floor.

"I know," he gave her a sympathetic smile. "I think he's a little overwhelmed," Vic raised his eyebrows as Raven nodded. "You know, Titans, Slade, Ex-girlfriend, Dead ex-girlfriend.." his look dropped into a distorted 'oops' face, making Raven smile.

"He'll be alright.. just give him some time."

_888_

She slid beneath the covers, her mood thoughtful. She hadn't meant to say that in front of Garfield. She shouldn't have been so insensitive. They had shared a lot together. He had helped her through a lot. It was a long time ago, but he seemed still pretty hung up on it. _But that was Gar_, she reminded herself. He was emotionally connected. His heart was big and he had so much to give. Letting go was always hard for him, she knew.

She let her head rest on the memory foam pillow beneath her head. She sighed, knowing already that she would get little sleep tonight. Her mind was turning over thoughts, again and again. Slade was mauling around, Garfield's fast exit today, the team and – not to mention – she was missing Jason like there was no tomorrow.

_Jason._

She rolled over to the bedside table on the left and reached for her phone. She slid a finger across the screen, unlocking it. She hadn't heard from him all day. The city must've been keeping him busy, as per usual of late. It was late.. 2.23am. He was bound to still be up. Whether he had his phone on him or not was another thing.

_Hey._

Was all she sent. She wasn't sure why. She was unsure of her mood, so she was looking for some back up from her other half. Maybe he could ease her pregnant mind.

She rested her head against the pillow again, her eyes intently watching the screen of her phone, waiting for a reply. She blinked, hoping his reply would be quick, as per usual. The seconds dragged longer and longer as her attention wavered. _Come on. _No reply still. _He must be busy_. She wondered what with.. Maybe that new guy in town.. _Ace?_ She hoped he was alright, unlike his last attempt at doing his own dirty work (poorly sewn stitches). He was always pushing himself further than he should. Always. New bruises, cuts, stitches, muscle pains, the list was never ending. But she was the same when she was with the Titans.

Her lips parted slightly. The Titans. They were back together. A faint smile came to her lips. She thought she would never see the day. Especially with Dick. He made it quite clear that he was going solo, permanently. However, he had grown up. A lot. He had to. He had a lot of responsibility, especially with the mantle of Batman looming over his head. They all knew one day when Bruce Wayne was no longer fit to play the role, Dick would have to take over. He had been preparing his whole life for that day. He had been learning, training and making sure he could live up to the legend of his adoptive father, to be just as good, even better. He had always said that he wanted to be the Batman that Bruce could never be. She had never told him that he was more like Bruce than he thought. However, he was more compassionate than Bruce. He was much more loving, he had more feeling. That would be his advantage, but also his downfall.

She turned her attention back to her phone. Still no reply.

A sudden impulse hit her with force. She wasn't tired and she was back in Jump city. She knew what she could do to pass the time. If Jason was out patrolling, and so was Dick, why couldn't she? With a loud huff and a motivated expression, she let her phone drop to the mattress as she slipped out of her rather comfortable bed.

Her small feet padded their way to the walk in robe to the left of the room. Despite the darkness, she could still spot that familiar piece of clothing from a mile away. Hung at the back of the rack on the right wall of the robe, behind all of her other clothes, was her old suit. It was full length now, wrist to ankle, leather and latex, her hooded cape resting behind it on another hanger with her ruby circled belt. Quickly, she yanked off her black satin shorts. She let them drop from her hands to the carpet below. Equally as fast she gripped her top and tugged it over her head. As if she had lost interest in the camisole, she let it drop to the floor like the matching shorts.

She gripped the hanger holding her suit with a strong hand and cautiously pulled it off the rack. Her expression turned nostalgic as she pulled it off the hanger. The hanger, with a dull thud, landed on the dark carpet at her feet. She turned the suit over and grabbed the zip, slowly she tugged it downwards. A content smile appeared on her face as she could feel the familiar smooth, cold fabric of her latex mixed with leather full suit sliding across her bare skin. This would be the first time she had put the suit on in four and half years.

It slid over the curves of her upper thighs, hips and waist. Swiftly, she slid her arms into the sleeves. With a simple thought, the zip up her back was automatically done up, pulling the suit tight against her skin. It still fit like a glove.

She reached for her beloved cloak. With a swift flick of her arms the cloak was wrapped around her neck. She could feel it cascade down her back and over her shoulders, covering her body. She slipped her pale feet into her dark blue boots as she reached for her belt. She slipped it around her hips, clipping it together. She slipped the hood over her head. Something suddenly felt right. The fabric was familiar and so was the protection of her hood. She could feel a sudden warmness spreading through her body. Her decision to come was confirmed. This was the right thing to do. Something was telling her that it would be for the greater good.

"Azarath, metrion, Zinthos," the words slipped from her mouth like they had all those years ago, calm and monotonous. A dark shadowed aura rose from the dark carpet, moulding into a large raven before enveloping the empathy and sinking to the floor.


	12. Apprentice

_Heh. This is way overdue. Sorry for being out of touch._

_A/n: This had pretty much been finished when I came across this a few days ago. There are a few tacky things raging amongst this chapter, but my brain is kind of frazzled, so it's going up. Mistakes and what not as per usual. Also, update might be a bit slow again - extensive rehearsals._

**_Lots and lots of love for the reviews :). But leave more!_**(A bit demanding?)**_ I love reviewers' thoughts!_**

_Disclaimer: Don't own._

_Read, enjoy and review!_

* * *

><p><strong><em>Reconcile<em>**

_Chapter Twelve: Apprentice._

It was probably useless coming out here on his own. He had predicted it would be a quiet night. His estimate had been correct. He was hoping otherwise, eager to get out of the house for some action. He was praying for something to keep his mind occupied, to stop it from mauling and obsessing over things that were out of his control – a nasty habit he had developed at a young age. It was something that quite frequently affected his life. It was how he came to be, here and in this place, alone. It was the reason why he was alone.

A black aura rose behind him. He noticed the black form casting a shadow over his frame and the cement floor below and in front of him. He blinked, unchanged. He knew exactly who it was. After a moment he could see the shadow slowly fading. He finally turned his head to the left, letting his eyesight catch a glimpse of the large, black ravenesque shape. The shape jerked, recoiling quickly, revealing Raven, before sinking back into the concrete.

"Couldn't sleep?" His voice, deeper than usual, called as smirk came to his lips.

"I haven't changed," she commented, taking a few steps forward to fall in line with him.

He looked her up and down. Disbelief crossed his features which, thankfully for him, went unnoticed by Raven. He hadn't seen her suited up for quite a long time. Her deep midnight cape was draped back over her shoulders for a change, revealing the matching skin tight, midnight blue suit underneath. The bright lights of the city outline silhouetted her frame, illuminating the – still – perfect fit of her suit. It was sleek and shiny, highlighting every curve and muscle. However, her hood still concealed her head, casting a shadow over the majority of her white porcelain face. The whites of her eyes and her purple iris' were the only things standing out against the dark shadows casted over her face.

"I picked a good night, I see," she looked to him, her tone hinting sarcasm.

He deadpanned. "I've done three loops of the city already.." He trailed off, unenthused.

She smiled, looking at the skyline of the city. It made her feel a little nostalgic. She hated to admit it, but she had missed Jump City. "I suppose that's a good thing."

His face turned serious, his eyebrows furrowing. "Not always."

Her smile dropped instantly. She avoided his gaze by taking in the city's skyline again. Her soft focus caught his head turn, shifting his attention away from her. She looked back to him. He was so serious. She reminded herself that he had every right to be. He carried a large weight on his shoulders. He always had, but as his age increased so did his responsibility. It wasn't to be taken lightly, but when did Dick ever take responsibility lightly? Always practical, always careful, always alert. Always in superhero mode. He threw everything aside and lived solely on doing good, for society. Solely on providing justice to the people. Solely living in black and white.

"Raven," his soothing voice broke her train of thought.

Her eye line was still bearing across at him. She blinked. Had she been staring at him? "Sorry," she spoke softly.

The smile was back. "All good," he shrugged before gesturing to the thousands of lights dispersed throughout the city in front of him. "A lot's changed since you've been here…" he began, "another loop?"

However, she guessed he was trying to learn live in the grey as well.

Her lips parted into a teethy smile. She nodded.

_888_

_Raven, figure on the roof to your left. Careful. _His voice rung throughout her mind, breaking her train of thought. They had been in silence for about the last five minutes – sending her mind into deep thought about the endless possibilities of tonight's outcome.

She turned, following his direction, her eyes looking for any trace of movement. She couldn't see any. Just roof tops, shadows and lights.

Then she saw it. A figure clad in black – and something shiny, as it reflected the lights around it. It was attempting to break into the building below it by trying to access the air vent exit, a metal curve poking out of the cement roof. It had managed to pull off the metal cage preventing access to anything man or thing. It was about to hoist itself into the vent before -

"Hold it!" She could hear her team mate call, his voice deep and gravelly, leaping past her with lightning speed.

The figure was up and on his feet within a second, already bolting for the edge of the building, heading north. Nightwing had already landed two feet on the same roof top as the shape sprinted for the edge. The black clad figure leaped off the small cement edging of the building. Nightwing was following close behind, racing on the balls of his feet. The black figure landed gracefully on next roof top, a few hundred metres away. The figure swiftly tucked in his limbs in for a quick body roll, dispersing the jolt of the landing. Raven finally clicked into gear, her hovering position dropping quickly to the same roof as the enemy. The figure rolled into the shadow casted by the exiting stairwell to the roof. As her feet touched solid concrete, so did Nightwing's.

"Good evening," Nightwing called, standing firmly in his 'superhero' stance.

Raven's eyes turned to slits as she saw the figure, who was not fully hidden by the shadows, turn to the look at the two.

Her breath got caught in her chest for a split second.

The figure in shrouded partly in darkness, rose to his feet. Slowly he stepped forward. The light from the moon and numerous other buildings lightly illuminated the figure. Her face dropped, completely stunned. It was true - he had returned and _with an apprentice_.

The suit was almost exactly the same as she had remembered. It was full black skin tight suit, with trimmings of silver around the neck, wrists, chest, shins and boots– but the mask was different. It was similar to the full metal mask of Slade himself, except it left the lower jaw and mouth exposed. One side was a dark gold the other, black. Two white slits compensated as eyes. His lips were full and thick, his jaw chiselled square. He was almost as tall as Nightwing, and as muscular too, but slightly leaner. This was no kid. This was a man. Probably a similar age to the two superheroes.

Nightwing noted that the new apprentices' attention was on Raven. It seemed he was taken by her. He wasn't sure if it was because he had never seen her before or because she was quite attractive. At this point in time, it didn't matter. However, Raven was still staring back. She was frozen stiff. Her glare wasn't icy. It was dumbfounded. Neither of them expected him to make such an appearance so early on.

Dick took his chance, breaking into a sprint. He leaped. The mask turned toward him. Black gloved hands rose, crossing forearms over another into a block. Dick went for a sweeping side kick to his ribs. Surprised, but not unprepared, the masked foe flowed with the kick, stumbling sideways, but gripping Nightwing's foot with both hands and taking it with him. Realising the consequences of that move, the hero threw all of his weight at the masked man. The man, again, rolled with the move, falling back onto the concrete below, Nightwing rolling on top of him. The masked man had it covered, using the force from his sculptured legs, he kicked Nightwing in the gut, and off of his own frame. Dick summersaulted backwards, landing in the crouched position on all fours, directly opposite the also crouching man.

"Where's that smirk now?" The dark haired man taunted.

The masked man's lip curved into a smirk. He launched at Nightwing, as Raven's bewilderment finally faded.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," she chanted. Her eyes opened, completely white.

Several diverse objects such as cement blocks, metal sheets and poles rose from the tops of numerous buildings bordered by the three, doused in her black aura.

Dick blocked the punch with his palm. The masked man turned his attention to Raven. His smirk dropped instantly and so did his jaw. Dick took advantage of the moment, slamming a knee it into the mask man's stomach. He let out a growl as he stumbled back, a hand to his abdomen. The white slits turned to Raven, who was floating, her cape flowing in the slight breeze. Her hands were crossed over her chest. He reached for something in his belt. Her arms flung outwards, sending the gravitating objects. He flung his free arm out, a disk sailed into the air.

Everything went white.

There were noises representing a struggle, and a few of her objects crashing to the ground due to her drop of concentration.

"Raven!" Nightwing's voice was strained. She could hear him grunt.

She couldn't see anything. Everything was white. There was nothing she could do. She stayed in the air, saving herself from an attack from below.

Slowly the white faded. Her vision was spotty for a few moments, trying to rid the effects from the bright light. Slowly, that familiar dark night appeared. Nightwing stood in his usual stance, tall, chest puffed and his fists balled. He was looking towards Raven. His expression, despite being tampered with by the mask, was furious. He turned quickly, heading for the edge of the building. He leaned over, trying to get a decent look. His hand went to the side of his mask, presumably to his enhanced facial mask. With a slight brush of his index finger his vision zoomed, now digital. He glances in multiple directions, scanning for any swift movements. Nothing. He switched to heat sensitive. Multiple orbs of orange and green showed up, completing normal mundane tasks of Jump City Citizens. He had vanished. It would be useless to search. There were a million different escape routes, just off of the building's roof top alone.

He switched his vision back to normal.

Raven appeared beside him. "Do you think he knew?"

"You startled him," the hero in black commented, his senses still alert and ready. Her eyes widened a little. "I think he knew of you, but he wasn't prepared."

Nightwing turned, walking back to where the fight had happened moments before. He bent down and picked up the sleek silver disc like object still on the cement, a remnant of the apprentice's white out attack. His eyes turned to slits, thoughtful and concerned. "He was after something in particular."

He headed back towards Raven, the disc in his hand. He looked over the edge of the building to the roof top that they had been on a few moments ago. Rivendale Technologies. He knew exactly what they made. Well known scientists working with advanced technology. They were at the top of their field, dealing with simple computer programming all the way to engineering advanced technological gadgets used by the FBI and CIA. But that was classified information only known to very few people, including himself.

"And he'll be back," he warned, shoving the disc into a pocket on his utility belt.

"Another loop then?" she questioned, putting a foot on the edge of the building.

He nodded.

_888_

Starfire dropped the neatly folded newspaper in front of Dick with a smile. She then swooped back amongst the cupboards heading for the fridge. Swiftly, she opened the double doors and reached for the mixed orange and mango juice from one of the shelves. She turned, kicking the door shut behind her.

"Thanks Kori," he replied to her lovely gesture with an equally lovely smile.

She made her way back to the table and sat down next to Raven, who was sitting opposite Dick. Koriand'r poured herself and Raven a glass of juice. The dark haired woman gave her a warm smile as she gripped the glass. She had to admit she wasn't the biggest fan of orange juice, but she couldn't say no to the alien princess.

"He just ran?" Cyborg broke the silence, trying to comprehend what happened to his two friends only a few hours ago. His robotic elbows were placed on the table, his hands and fingers twisting and bending into some shapes that expressed his confusion.

"Pretty much," Raven replied before taking a sip of the juice. She pursed her lips. Orange and Mango. Interesting combo.

Dick raised his eyebrows, his mouth twisting into a smirk, "we made the front page," he noted unenthusiastically as he rolled his eyes, directing his attention to Raven.

Her brows furrowed as he tossed the paper her way. She put her juice back on its coaster and gripped the paper with two slender hands. It was a rather striking picture of the two. Dick stood in his usual superhero pose, Raven, unlucky for her, was captured without her hood on, her cape caught waving in the wind. Luckily, the photo wasn't exactly too clear, the finer details of the two looking blurry and undefined. It was taken when they had been observing the city over the edge of one of the skyscrapers, before they had met with Slade's apprentice.

"Great," the dark haired woman muttered sarcastically, her face slipping into a tired expression. She turned the page, realising the pictures continued. Kori looked over from where she was sitting.

Cyborg grabbed the silver disc sitting in the middle of the table. "I can't dismantle it," Dick noted, gripping a piece of toast from his plate.

Cyborg's frown deepened as he gave the device a good once over. "I'll give it go," he looked back to Dick with a hopeful expression. "I can also video call Sarah and see if she can figure it out." Dick nodded.

A slight high pitched giggle escaped the alien princess. The two men looked to the two women. Koriand'r was stifling a girlish chuckle, whilst Raven's expressions went from deadpan, to bewilderment and then into something in between disgust and anger.

Koridan'r leaned towards Raven, reading directly from the paper in Raven's hands, "Could this be Nightwing's new mate?"

Cyborg exploded into a deep chortle as a sly smile came to Dick's lips.

"I see the media still hasn't matured," Raven commented, her voice thick with venom.

Dick and Victor both shook their heads, the African American still deeply chuckling and the smaller man still smiling. The laughing and smiles died down, and the air between the four of them turned serious. They all realised what this now meant.

"Slade knows we're here," Victor commented, looking to the other three.

"We have to be ready," Dick continued the train of thought as the other three nodded.

Raven got this sick feeling in her stomach all of a sudden. She had an inkling that things weren't going to be as simple and as easy as it used to be. There was definitely going to be a 'fight to the death'.

"Ready for what?" Garfield yawned entering into the kitchen in a pair of spongebob boxer shorts and no shirt, exposing his bright green skin.

Unexpectedly, the four at the table erupted into laughter. Garfield's face was crossed with confusion and panic, utterly confused at what was going on.

_888_

He slipped the hand rolled cigarette between his lips. He raised an eyebrow as his index finger tapped impatiently against his wooden desk. He was growing impatient. He motioned for a lighter with his two hands, making a flicking motion with his thumb and fingers. His associate, sitting on his right passed it quickly, having already lit his own cigarette just a second ago.

"I'm not liking this," he admitted, mumbling, trying to keep his cigarette between his lips. He brought the lighter to his cigarette, flicking the switch with his right thumb. The flame ignited, burning the tip of the cigarette. He let his hands drop to the pockets of his leather jacket, the lighter still in his right hand.

His associate, fair skinned with dirty blonde hair, chuckled a little. "Chill out Jason," he took a puff, before taking the cigarette in his right hand and letting the smoke explode from his mouth. "This is what we want. This is what you want," he reassured his friend.

"I know, Dave," Jason took a puff himself, "but it just feels… weird."

"Maybe because you'll be able to finally say goodbye to that fucking suit forever."

Jason frowned, putting the cigarette back in his mouth. He took another drag. His business partner, David, was right. He wanted out of this business. He wanted to be normal, for Raven. He wanted to be able to live a carefree life. He wanted a family – a family without all this villain and heroine bullshit. He knew Raven wanted that too. He wanted kids someday, she too. They wanted their kids to grow up normally and with proper, normal and loving parents, something that neither of them had.

"Maybe," he agreed, reaching for the phone in his pocket.

He leaned back, pulling it out of his jeans pocket and bringing the screen into his view. He hadn't replied to Raven. _No wonder_, he rolled his eyes. She had sent him that text at some ridiculous hour this morning. Maybe that was why his stomach wasn't agreeing with him. He hadn't told Raven about this new business move. She didn't know he was searching for a new young prospect to possibly hand his business down to. He didn't like keeping secrets from her, considering they had both been open with each other quite early on. However, he wanted to keep this as a surprise. He would tell her when the time was right.

_Hey._

He smiled.

_Hey yourself._

With a click of a button, he locked the phone and slid it back into his pocket.

His eyes went straight for the door. In one minute their interviewee would be late. Punctuality was key in this business. Jason pursed his lips, starting to become unimpressed. His eyes turned to slits as they glared at the wooden door. His faced turned to a scowl at the distaste of the door. It was white with a curved golden handle. Ugly, in his opinion, matching the rest of the office. He had to remind himself it wasn't his choice. It was David's turn to hire the office. White walls, white book cases either side of the two associates and large floor to ceiling windows behind them. Too modern and sleek – no personality. The carpet was a shade of beige, matching the wooden desk. A black rug filled the space between their desk and a plain, squarish looking black chair.

A computer was fitted to the desk for looks; however David had taken a liking to it. He was busy clicking away as bellows of smoked puffed from his mouth.

Jason preferred his note pad sitting squarely in front of him with a plain old biro. He could add his personal notes to his home laptop at a later stage.

There was a knock at the door. Jason looked to David, the grin on his friends face unmaskable. Jason knew he wanted out too. They had been in this business way too long. The sick feeling at the pit of his stomach swirled slightly. He couldn't tell if was just nerves, or something else.

"Come in," Jason called out.

Slowly the door handle turned and the door opened. A man appeared, probably a few years younger than the two partners. He was surrounded by three men; the business partners – David's – lackeys, dressed appropriately in all black.

He had dark hair, close enough to black and deep brown eyes. He was dressed smartly in a suit with a white dress shirt, but no tie. The lackeys assisted the young man to the seat awaiting him in front of beige wooden desk. Two of lackeys took their place behind the young man, the other left the room, standing his post outside. Jason raised an eyebrow, always at a loss as to why David needed bodyguards when he was around, especially three. He was more than qualified to take down a whole police squad on his own.

"Joseph, is it?" David asked, still puffing away at his cigarette, his eyes finally drawn away from the computer screen.

The young man nodded. "Mr. Vatousios and," David pointed to Jason, "Mr. Todd."

"Call me Jason," the green eyed man added, showing his distaste for formalities publically with a twisted scowl. The man nodded again. "How old are you?" Jason asked, eyeing the dark haired man.

"Twenty," he answered his voice strong, but polite.

"You're rather young to be getting involved with this business," Todd commented, returning his cigarette back to his mouth.

"Compared to you two," he retorted in a smart tone, his face bordering on a sly smile, "Not really."

The two partners smiled at each other, David letting out a chuckle. He had done his research. The two had technically started dealing in crime from an age as young as six. Their dealings with gangs had started as young as Fifteen. "That's a good attitude to have," Jason replied, taking a puff.

The green eyed man hoped that sick feeling in his gut would disappear. He was starting to feel like might actually throw up his last meal.

He could see a little of himself in this kid – and he wanted to trust it so bad. There weren't many trust worthy kids of that age with a good head on their shoulders out there. He wanted to leave his legacy in good hands. He wanted someone with the same morals and attitudes as he and David. He wanted someone witty, smart, humorous and loyal. He wanted someone with a pretty decent history and someone who had skills. Jason's brows furrowed slightly. He didn't need to possess all of those qualities, he just had.. to show potential, to show the spark of something different. He and David could train him, in every aspect of the business. He could join their twosome. He could be as good Jason. Maybe.

All that thought made him realise that this process would be a slow one, showing the kid the ropes, and the ins and outs of running this kind of business. He hoped it would be worth it. For his sake. For Raven's sake.

"Jason and I have decided that it would be worth while in offering you a kind of," David paused to take a brief look at his partner in crime, "apprenticeship."


	13. Reunion

_After listening to all of Hans Zimmer's Batman soundtracks on repeat, here it is!_

_A/N: Apologies for the late upload. I've nearly finished uni _forever, _so updates will hopefully be quicker. This chapter is also poorly edited because, just letting you know, it's almost six thousand words long (how good is that?!) and I got sick of reading it over and over. I'm not sure if I'll regret this decision later.. but, IputBeastBoyinredchino's. What?_

_Thank you so much for all the beautiful reviews! They honestly make my day :)_

_Disclaimer: Don't own._

_Read, enjoy and please review! _

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><p><strong><em>Reconcile<em>**

_Chapter Thirteen: Reunion._

The grounds were gorgeous at this time of night, sunset. The sun was at that perfect low angle, just about to sink below the earth, but had just enough left to let the last of its rays beam across the land. It gave the right amount of light, without being too bright and glary, and it gave the flora around her a stunning burnt orange glow.

The garden looked like it went for miles, homing millions of different plants from all sorts of exotic destinations. It was a shame she wasn't a gardener, otherwise this would be absolute paradise. It probably was for the gardeners at the estate, which she hadn't even seen yet – they were probably Monday to Wednesday kind of people.

She brought the royal blue mug to her lips and tipped it towards her, its base rising to the sky. The warm herbal liquid slid into her mouth and down her throat. She pulled the mug away, the taste of green tea lingered in her mouth. The perfect drink for this time of night, to her anyway.

The garden bed to her right was home to a large section of beautiful flowers coloured with pure whites and vivid blues. They varied in height and seemed to have no pattern, were mismatched and thrown together, but they were somehow the most striking collection of flowers she had ever seen. A short green hedge caged them in their bed, making them look even more wild and unstructured. High dark green trees of various species stood behind them, highlighting the large palate of shades the flowers contained.

She felt something, like a presence close by. It froze her stiff, unsure who it was. It warmed to her, slowly growing familiar. Someone she knew very well obviously. She brushed it off, her frame loosening in relaxation, predicting that it would be one of the Titans. She turned to the source of the aura, another garden bed opposite housing orange themed flowers, more spectacular compared to the blue tones she fell in love with. Despite that, they seemed very superficial juxtaposed to the deepness of the blues – if you could say that about flowers.

"Raven?" a raspy, but deep boyish voice called from somewhere surrounding the garden bed. _Garfield._

The green skinned man appeared, his deep emerald eyes meeting her amethyst ones instantly. They were surprised for a moment, before they melted into something warmer. He laughed a little, nervous. "I forgot how.. in touch you were."

Her lips tipped into a small smile. "Sorry."

"No!" His response was quick and somewhat high pitched, his hands jumped in front of him in a 'don't go' motion. "Don't be sorry," he added, a little slower and deeper this time as his arms and hands dropped to his side slowly.

He was dressed casually in a pair of crimson chino shorts and a black shirt. The shirt clung to his frame, exposing his well-developed muscles. He had obviously been keeping in shape since the Titans dispersed. He had no shoes on, a classic look for Gar. His hair was slightly shaggy, but still well maintained, creating a sort of side fringe kind of thing. He hadn't changed that much. That's what she always liked about Garfield. He never changed.

Silence enveloped the two. It was thick and tense. Their eyes didn't break contact.

There was such a large space between the two.. so much grass between their feet. He was keeping his distance and keeping his movements subdued. He didn't want to push her too far or startle her. He had no idea what she was like anymore. Was she still distant and reserved? He thought it was easier to play it safe than to rush brashly into doing something too eccentric and bold. They had just reunited; he didn't want to be pissing people off so soon.

The tension quickly tuned awkward. So much space. She guessed he was keeping his distance. She could predict what he was thinking without even retrieving it from his mind. The same old thing all the team used to think back when they first got together. More distance, the better.

_I_

_He ran a gentle hand down the side of her cheek. His fingers were soft, caressing her skin delicately. She had never let anyone do this before. It was such an odd thing for her. She never got the whole 'expressing affection' thing. She knew he wanted it, obviously, since she had read his mind, and, for the first time ever, she decided to let him. She had gripped his hand and pressed it delicately against her porcelain cheek._

_He had been surprised at first, to say the least, before his face melted into a big cheesy grin. That moment seemed to touch Raven. It made her feel somewhat content and gave her a feeling close to joy. _She_ was able to give someone happiness, even if it was just a moment, and something so simple. She just gave that to him. _She_ made someone happy._

"_It's okay," she reassured him, her voice edged with sincerity._

_His smile grew. "I know."_

_She smiled too._

_I_

They had shared so much. Why was he being so cautious?

"Why are you standing so far away?" She quizzed him as she raised an eyebrow. Bluntness was the best approach with Garfield.

His face broke into an awkward and nervous surprised face. He froze for a moment, before his hands seemed to express his exact feelings, as they moved quickly and sporadically – completely confused. He scratched the back his head with his right hand realising that his actions were awkward and uncomfortable. He looked at her, his smile growing again as his two bottom sharp canine teeth prominently poked over top bottom lip. He shrugged as his body settled into calm. "I don't know."

He stepped forward amongst the soft grass, his feet almost lost in the similar shade of green. She stood still as he approached her. As he grew close, everything seemed to flood back to her. She could never forget him, ever. He was the one that cracked her shell – something she could never repay him for. He gave her the time of day, when no one else would. He prevailed through her bitchy and cold exterior. But, he could only crack the shell, not get her out of it.

"Raven?" he called again, realising she had slipped into her own thoughts.

She broke her stare, her eyes settling on his.

They never really talked about it either. She just kind of rejected him and that was it. He moped around, tried to get her back and she just shut him out. In her eyes she had save him. She couldn't give him the life he wanted. She then began to shut all of them out. Then the team started to suffer, and it got hard, for all of them.

"I'm sorry, Gar," she spoke softly, her features expressing a guilty sadness. She hoped that he would figure out that she wasn't just apologising for staring.

"It's alright," he began, only a foot from her. "I'd figured you'd gone into Raven world," he added softly, trying to be kind.

He didn't get the right apology. She should've taken her own advice, _be blunt._ She dropped her gaze for a minute to the grass, a moment of disappointment crossing within her. She wasn't sure if she should try to bring it up again. She licked her lips. It obviously wasn't the right time. She couldn't just bring it up in conversation, especially so early on. Maybe it was necessary. Maybe they needed to get it off each other's chests.. maybe it was easier just leaving it alone.

She looked up, meeting his green eyes again. A faint smile decorated her lips. Maybe this was the right way.

_I wish you knew how much I loved you._

The smile completely dropped off her face as her eyes shut for a moment too long. That was a slap in the face. She mentally smacked herself for accidentally delving into his thoughts. She swallowed, her look giving too much away. He realised she'd heard that comment. He stepped forward and she stepped backwards.

"Raven," he warned, his voice edge with huffed sigh.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean pry it just kind of happened.." She trailed off quickly, shaking her head and breaking their contact.

"Raven," he called again, a little harder this time.

She paused all her movements as her eyes met his again. He stepped forward and she stayed put. He closed the gap between them, his feet standing in between her also bare ones. He gripped her free hand. His touch was warm and full of emotion. It was pulsating through her. She forgot how emotional Garfield was, so open and free to expression.

"I'm sorry too, Rae," he cooed softly, a faint smile coming to his lips, exposing his animal like teeth again.

Her lips parted slightly in surprise. He had accepted her apology and that was his reply.

He let her hand go, but she kept it there, completely engrossed by him. He turned, giving her one last smile. He took a few steps before breaking into a sprint. Within the blink of an eye, he had transformed his green form into the figure of a dog – a beagle, to be exact. His cute puppy face now looked back at her. A mischievous bark escaped his mouth before he disappeared into the orange and green flowered garden bed.

She let her hand containing her mug of tea tip forwards, letting the herbal tea spill from the mug onto the green grass below. She swallowed, turning away from what had just happened and made her way back through the garden to the mansion.

_888_

She looked at the sleek gadget cupped in her hands. It looked similar to the old ones they used to have, but smaller, rounder and less.. 80's disco party. A digital screen covered one side and a few buttons decorated the right hand ride of the gadget.

"They're like our old communicators," Nightwing began, his own gadget already missing from his hands, probably hidden somewhere in his skin tight suit, "just.. better."

Raven, unsure where to put the device, looked down to her outfit. She looked puzzled. "They're touch pad and do contain a tracker."

Maybe she'd have to stick it in her boobs, which would be insanely uncomfortable. She looked to Starfire, who also seemed to be having trouble. She couldn't imagine where the red head would put hers. Her costume was pretty much non-existent, still.

"It should fit where the old one used to."

She raised her eyebrow. _Duh._ She reached down to her belt hanging loosely off her hips. The third nodule along homed her old communicator, something she found sentimental as she got older. Delicately her fingers gripped the chunky old communicator and pulled it out. She mused at how dated it was. Thick, unnecessarily awkward design, flip lid and it was yellow.. _yellow_.

Nightwing watched as three pairs of his team mates hands went straight for their outfits, looking for their communicators. They still knew exactly where they were. It was heartening to see that they all still possessed the old technology that kept them in touch all that time ago, even Cyborg, still embedded into his hardware. They hadn't really given up on the team after all.

He swiftly passed Beast Boy, who had his old communicator in his hand, held out. They exchanged hands quickly, the yellow device now in Nightwing's black gloved hand. Quickly, he did the same to the next in line, Starfire. Raven, a little hesitant at first, eventually propped her hand out, the gadget held delicately with all of her five digits. Nightwing passed, but paused to take the contraption and deliver a reassuring smile. She couldn't return it, her mind still bogged on the events that happened in the mansion garden.

She felt him looking at her, Beast Boy. Her head turned, her focus drowning out Starfire beside her. He was looking at her. His green eyes were thoughtful and almost dejected. She dropped her gaze instantly. The guilt was present on her face.

"Alright, I figured we'd do the old loop," the nostalgia was thick in Nightwing's voice. "Raven, Starfire, you can loop by air," as he spoke he looked towards the two. The dark haired woman tried to mask her previous look, but her masked leader was well aware by creases present on his forehead. He moved on quickly, noting to talk to her later. "Cyborg, Beast Boy, you're coming with me," he paused for dramatic effect, "in the car."

Cyborg's eyes widened for a second, before they narrowed into slits and a sly smile came about his lips. "Did you say _car_?"

_888_

She looked to Koriand'r flying elegantly beside her. She looked so beautiful and so joyful, like the old Kori she used to know. Her features were brightened with a beaming smile as her fiery orange hair flew behind her, flapping slightly in the breeze. She still managed to look like a babe in her scanty outfit, remnant of a purple one piece swimming suit that barely covered her boobs and arse. She still donned the large thigh high boots and matching gloves. Raven couldn't knock her; she had it, so why couldn't she flaunt it? Also, as it still seemed, Kori was never really one for wearing a whole lot of clothes.

The dark haired woman took into account that the Alien Princess obviously hadn't flown in a long time; after all, there was really no need to anymore. That was one of the things the Alien princess enjoyed the most, flying. The dark haired woman remembered Kori had described flying as a freeing experience, something that she could always turn to, something that would relieve her stress. It was something that would always cheer her up. The view and fresh air were for some reason so calming to her. Ever since she came to earth she had found such joy within it, it was something that was second nature to her people, so she had taken it for granted originally. But once coming to this planet, she suddenly realised how much of a privilege it was to contain such a power.

Raven had felt the same, just a whole lot less. She too found the joy in flying, but it wasn't so simple for her. It had to be the right amount of Joy, too much or too little could be catastrophic whilst flying for her.

She was thankful she had been put on patrol with Starfire this evening, being with the boys on the first night back would've been throwing her in the deep end, especially with Garfield around. Thankfully Dick was smart enough to take Garfield with him and Victor, which probably saved his arse too. Dick and Victor probably weren't a great mix on the first night back in action.

"Do you think he will make an appearance?" The red head's bubbly voice broke the silence between the two, her face was serious.

Raven frowned, hidden from view due to her hood. She then shrugged. "I don't know."

Kori then frowned, matching Raven's, despite not being aware that her friend was frowning too. "I hope not," she spoke truthfully. She had Raven's full attention now, noticing that, she continued. "I do not think we are ready."

Raven swallowed, the most optimistic of the group even had her doubts. That gave the pale woman a reality check, which somewhat frightened her. They both knew the team wasn't ready to encounter something like Slade again. He had almost torn them apart several times. After a five year hiatus, he might just be capable, especially with a new apprentice.

A rhythmic beeping filled the air. The communicator. Both women looked down, noticing the glass jewels on their costumes flashing a bright red. They both thought that part of the communicator had been decommissioned years ago; she was surprised Dick even got them working. Both women slowed to a halt, reaching into their respective costumes to pull out their new black devices. They were much sleeker than the old yellow ones and less conspicuous too. The screen in front of the dark haired woman came to life, a masked Nightwing on the screen.

"Slade?" Her deep voice questioned cautiously.

He shook his head. "No," the reply was blunt, "robbery on 4th and main. Meet you there."

The screen went blank. She looked to Starfire, her expression was thankful, but still not at ease.

_888_

As soon their feet touched the ground both women knew what they were looking at – and it wasn't the fragments of a robbery. It was much worse. The store that they were called to on the corner of 4th and main had no shop front. It had been blown off, or either broken off, the debris crumbed across the road and footpaths surrounding it. The inside of the store had suffered a similar fate, destroyed none the less. All the light posts surrounding the store on the same block had been uprooted and thrown a strew. The various multistorey buildings on the same block had been damaged somewhat, some like the original store, others left perfectly intact. Debris littered the whole street.

The only evidence that their other three team members had been there was the new and improved T-car – if that was what it was now called. A modern and sleek car of a shape neither woman had seen before. It was a deep blue, almost black colour, which appealed to Raven. Thankfully for Cyborg and Nightwing, it looked unharmed.

There was a loud boom and a rumble that reverberated off the concrete walls, they could even feel it in the asphalt beneath their feet. The two superhero women looked left to the end of block. A giant cement like creature stumbled into their view between to the two buildings on the intersection of the next block. The dark sorceress' eyes narrowed and before she could open her lips, Starfire had already spoken, "Cinderblock."

Starfire was already in the air, her eyes glowing that emerald green and matching green orbs growing within her palms. She flew towards the action, her star bolts exploding from her hands without any hesitation. They pelted into the thick moving cement that was Cinderblock, sending him sideways towards the next block of buildings. He turned, launching forward with his thick bolder like arms flailing, trying to smack the alien princess out of his way. His last swipe succeeded and she was smacked sideways down the street, slamming into the side of a multistorey building a street or so away.

Cyborg leapt into action, pulling out his cannon and firing his beam towards Cinderblocks face. The first beam hit him hard, catching him unaware. He stumbled sideways, almost tripping over his own big solid legs.

Raven, now at the scene, caught Nightwing sprinting around Cinderblocks feet, a thick wire cable in hand. She got what he was doing; however, they both knew it wasn't going to work. Cyborg kept Cinderblock busy, offering random bursts of sonic cannon to various stoney body parts. The dark haired man was sprinting for the closest building, hoping to tie the cable, or staple the cable or _anything the cable_ to a large and stable building. His plan was short lived. Cinderblock thumped forwards towards Cyborg, who was now bolting from the cement creature. The cable expanded at Cinderblock's feet which painfully yanked Nightwing backwards, almost pulling both his shoulders from their sockets. He crashed sideways into the pavement, his body grinding agonisingly against cement for a short period of time before the cable was wrenched out of his hands.

Now aware of what the man in the tight black suit was doing behind his back, Cinderblock turned his new target, Nightwing, who was still trying to scrape himself off the asphalt road.

"Azarath, metrion, Zinthos," was chanted and Nightwing was enveloped in black. He was saved from the raging Cinderblock who might've crushed him beneath his stone foot, or picked him up and tossed him into the nearest cement building, most likely resulting in broken bones. She summoned him to her and he quickly flew through the air to her, landing perfectly on his feet up right. He swayed a little, then stumbled, dizzy at the fact he had gone from horizontal to vertical in a matter of a second.

The giant moving stone turned again, towards them this time, puzzled as to what happened to his puny target. He was only a few hundred metres from the two birds, or a step and a half in Cinderblock world. She hadn't thought of what would happen after saving Nightwing. She hadn't thought that far ahead. Her expression switched to stressed as she griped Nightwings gloved hand, ready to teleport. Luckily Starfire came to the rescue, knocking him forwards from behind with a super strength punch. He stumbled forwards, back down the street they had been before when the two women had joined the group. The ground beneath them rumbled again, shaking everything within a two kilometre radius of the fight.

He seemed to be taken with the Tamarian for a moment, his limbs flailing again, trying to smash her out of the way with his fists. Nightwing took his chance to conjure up a plan. He turned to the empath, dropping her hand as his face turned serious and stern. "Beast Boy's out," he started, the stress already clear in his voice, "Cyborg put him at safe distance."

She wanted to ask what happened, to see if Beast Boy was okay, but there was no time. Nightwing had already turned his attention back to the battle, Starfire was successfully keeping Cinderblock distracted, her green bolts were obviously too shiny for the unintelligent cement rock to avoid. Cyborg was also back at it, blasting as much sonic as his cannon arm could manage.

"I've got a plan," he started quickly turning back to her, "can you set up the telepathic link?" His question was demanding and blunt, almost shouted, which was necessary considering how much noise Cinderblock was making

She nodded stoically. There was so much going on. She had forgotten how hectic it all was – which she wasn't complaining about. She loved this work. At this current moment, she wouldn't change it for the world.

"Good," he confirmed, pulling her from her moment of distraction, "keep him distracted for as long as you can, you and Cyborg," his voice was back under control now, deep and commanding. He was in his element; he knew what he was doing. "Starfire and I will set this up," he motioned to the cable now tangled in a chaotic pile where he had just previously tried to take down Cinderblock. "We'll try and trip him, be ready for when he falls," and he was already gone, sprinting for the cable amongst the debris in the middle of the intersection.

She didn't need to nod. He trusted her to do this, she knew she had to and she knew she could. There was no other way to take this thick, cement creature down. Black pooled at her feet, ready to teleport her to where she needed to be.

"STARFIRE!" Nightwing's voice boomed across the street as he swept up the cable into his hands.

She sank into the puddle, rising a moment later a few metres from Cyborg.

_Cyborg, we need to distract him. _The information communicated was delivered with calm and coolness.

_Gotcha, _was the robotic man's equally cool, calm and collected response.

"YO!" Cyborg's deep and loud voice bellowed. "BLOCK HEAD!"

Raven looked to Cyborg, paused in her battle stance, her expression unimpressed. "You did not just say that.." she trailed off, her voice was apathetic, with a splash of bemusement.

Cyborg took a moment to look at her, a proud and self-righteous smile plastered on his face.

As quickly as the giant stone block could turn, he did, his eyes going straight for Cyborg. His two big stone hands clasped together, they rose above his head, winding up. Soon after his hands swung back over his head and deafeningly crashed into the ground, creating a ripple like effect that surged through the ground. The cement and asphalt split apart, crumbling into a million pieces and knocking to Cyborg to his feet. Quickly, Cinderblock leaped, looking to crush the cybernetic man beneath his rock hard foot.

Cyborg, surrounded in black was scooted away across the rubble, sliding past Raven, who was floating just above the ground a few hundred metres away. Her hands were straight out in front of her, fingers outstretch with her eyes black. Various objects rose into the air, ranging from light posts, debris and rubble, to a two tonne car.

Cinderblock landed on the asphalt with a loud, echoing thud, the asphalt puckering noisily around his stone feet. He then froze, obviously irritated that his target had moved. His head snapped up, looking directly at Raven. Her hands swung outwards as the objects flew at him. They hit him as fast as they could, pounding into him and knocking him back, but only slightly. The last object to hit him was the car, predicting it; his right arm rose and diagonally cut across his face before swatting the car sideways into the building beside him. It rammed into the cement, exploding on impact before crash landing into the cement below

Cyborg now back on his feet was switching his arm back into his cannon. He brought his arm close to his face, aiming. A second later, a large burst of blue energy erupted from his arm, hitting cinderblock square in the chest, knocking him back even further than Raven had. She looked to Nightwing, who was still securing the cable to the buildings parallel to each other behind Cinderblock. Cinderblock was getting awfully close to that cable. Cyborg, noticing this, cut his cannon blast. They needed to bait back towards them.

Cinderblock began to turn, realising there were two other members missing from the fight. Raven took her chance, letting her magic uproot another light pole. She sent it flying towards Cinderblock, looping it around his top half and twisting the left over ends together. Her fists clenched together like they were gripping rope and, with all her might, attempted to pull Cinderblock towards her.

A roar escaped the giant moving stone as he struggled against her power, but he wasn't the only one. Raven's teeth gritted together as her forehead creased into a fraught frown as she still attempted to pull him away from their only plan to possibly capture the creature. Her muscles were straining to keep him within her grip. Her eyes dropped to Nightwing for a moment, her concentration wavering for a second. Cinderblock took advantage of this, using his strength to wiggle wildly, which affected Raven. He caught on, thrashing violently. Raven was now struggling to keep herself still in the air. He stepped back, and using her power like a rope, he whipped her back and forth, before her concentration broke and she was sent flying backwards. She ploughed into asphalt with a sickening thud, rolling several times before coming to a standstill.

She got her wish, as the stone creature came for her again. Cyborg noticing this sprinted for the fallen woman, switching his arm into cannon mode again. Multiple blasts of frosty blue escaped his cannon, hitting the moving stone in various areas, slowing him down little.

"Raven!" the African American man called, trying to arouse her. He hardly even bent down to sweep her up into his arms as he sprinted past her, hardly slowing down.

NOW!" exploded from their other two team mates' mouths across the intersection, now a far way behind Cinderblock, realising the telepathic link was down due to Raven.

Cyborg stayed in his position, letting Raven slide gently out of his grip and back onto the gravel road. His free arm gripped his cannon for aim. A powerful blue blast jet from his arm cannon again. He prayed the other two would get here to help before Cinderblock did.

Starfire, with Nightwing dangling from her arms, flew past Cinderblock at lightning speed. She swooped low, dropping Nightwing off, just before Cyborg. He landed on two feet, full on sprinting. Starfire rounded back, rising a little. Both her hands came together as a green charge of energy exploded from her hands, directly hitting Cinderblock in the chest, he staggered backwards, but soon grew an immunity to the power, pushing forward. Cyborg upped the ante on his cannon, the sonic attack coming harder and faster.

Raven, now recovered, rose off her feet behind Cyborg, her own hands sending out her own dark, black power to strike the stone man. He toppled back further, so close to the cable – only a few metres away.

Nightwing sprinted underneath the powerful blasts from his team mates, heading straight for Cinderblock. As he got close, he leaped, releasing a large disc from his hand like a Frisbee. It glided through the air before it slammed into Cinderblocks lower gut – if it even had one. Nightwing turned, instantly retreating back towards the team. A few seconds later, the disc attached to the gut of the monster exploded, letting out a loud reverberation and clouds of billowing smoke.

Surprised, Cinderblock lurched backwards, heading straight for the cable.

Nightwing only hoped that he and Starfire had put enough layers of cable to make it thick enough. They had doubled it back and forth four times, as it was all the cable he had. They had fastened it to the stable columns of opposite parallel buildings on the corner of the closest intersection with large, industrial sized metal staples.

He turned, his face instantly gratified as he watched the large Stone monster catch his leg against the cable. It held long enough for the creature to fall backwards, a few cables breaking off the right hand building. Cinderblock crashed into the road beneath him square on his back, sending shock waves beneath the teams' feet with loud echoing booms of noise.

A cloud of debris launched into the air instantly, shrouding Cinderblock in a matter of a few seconds. It wasn't over yet.

"RAVEN!" Nightwing shouted, his head snapping backwards towards where he presumed the empath would be, but she was already ahead of him.

She flew over the top of him, her midnight blue cape flowing behind her. Tonnes of long poles and sheets of metal and steel varying in size followed her closely, coated in her dark magic. She paused mid-air, her arms expanding outwards in front of her, sending the various shapes of metal towards Cinderblock.

The team stood anxiously, waiting for either Raven to signal to them or for the blanket of dust to dissolve. Cyborg still had his cannon aimed, ready to continue. Starfire was still floating high above, her arms perched straight in front of her, ready to call upon her bolts if need be. Beast Boy now joined the group, obviously recuperated from his short lived battle with Cinderblock. He stood defensively behind Cyborg looking a little dazed.

Nightwing stood in his victorious stance marginally in front of the group, chest puffed, one foot in front of the other and fists clenched. The sounds of police sirens became prominent in their ears, the faint looping of the same tones almost becoming an annoying drone. They didn't turn to look though. Their eyes stayed glued on Raven.

Slowly, her frame descended through the air, her cape flying upwards, revealing her thick and tight suit. Her feet touched the ground and not long after, so did her cape, gently flopping onto the dusty asphalt. She turned back to her team. She flipped her hood down with two flicks of her hands as the dust and dirt behind her settled. A subtle smile tugged at her lips.

All at the same time, the teams' expressions melted into a mix of euphoric and relieved grins. Cinderblock had finally been apprehended. He had been pretty much mummified within tonnes and tonnes of metal and steel, making it virtually impossible for him to escape, let alone even move.

The collection of mismatched sirens were impossible to ignore now, blaring too loudly to even shout. Raven sank into her usual black puddle of magic, preparing her for teleportation. The puddle reappeared next to Nightwing, and she rose quickly from it, the puddle fading into the mundane cement that it was a moment ago. Those familiar flashings of blue and red lights were reflecting off the glass of buildings that were still intact. She turned, along with the rest of the team to see the eight police cars screaming towards them at a decent speed before they screeched to a halt in front of them.

The leader of the pack, directly in front of the team, stopped its siren and four policemen piled out of the car dressed neatly in their blue uniforms. The passenger, a little older than the driver, probably in his late thirties maybe early forties, gasped before his face warped into a surprised smile. Then, it escaped his lips, as if they had never left. "The Titans."


	14. Longing

_Lots and lots of love for my reviewers, and the ones that kicked my arse into gear._

_A/N: I know.. I know. I'm really, really sorry :(._

_But as you are about to read in this chapter, my life is one giant mess - not in a _bad_ way. Just in a Idon'tknowwhat'sgoingon kind of way. Hopefully routine kicks back in from now on._

_Disclaimer: Don't own the Titans._

**_Please R and R. I love reviews :)._**

_Enjoy!_

* * *

><p><strong><em>Reconcile<em>**

_Chapter Fourteen: Longing._

He could feel it pop out – swiftly sliding out and disconnecting from the joint. The weirdest feeling for just a mere millisecond. Then it all changed. Pain was searing down his arm, down his back and across his chest. His body physically crumpled slightly as a loud and painful huff escaped his mouth, letting most of the air in his lungs escape. He grimaced, the pain already agonizing. He tried desperately to suck in some more air, but it wasn't enough. He swept his injured arm up with his other, cradling it against his chest. It was like he had just been punched in the gut, leaving him winded. His eyes squeezed shut for a moment, trying to focus on getting more air into his lungs. It wasn't working. He quickly snapped his eyes open, remembering that he was still working. _Right. _His lungs continued to struggle to obtain more air, causing him to explode into a chain of bark like coughs. The pain in his shoulder was bearable.. for now – and he had an abnormally high pain threshold.

Tears stung his eyes as he looked to the last thug – if you could call it that. It was some sort of highly advanced robot. He coughed again, feeling the tears threatening to spill. It kind of looked familiar, but he couldn't place it. It was sleek and black, with highlights of silver metal decorating its upper chest like an old Egyptian neck piece, and two asymmetrical stripe like lines going from it's neckpiece down its torso to both its feet. It did have two sleek white slits as eyes, but X had blown half of its robotic head to smithereens, leaving only one slit now. He was surprised it was still functioning. He had probably only missed a major circuit by a mere millimetre. It jaggedly crouched, arms outstretched, obviously preparing for an attack.

X raised an eyebrow underneath the mask, slightly irritated. It was starting to frustrate him. He had been through eight of these bastards already and they weren't exactly easy things to take down. They were tedious and somewhat intelligent. The bot was coming for him, at quite a pace too. Quickly, X stumbled back, trying to think of something off the top of his head that wouldn't aggravate his already stressed body. He was running out of toys, especially ones that didn't require too much movement, now that he had on arm out of action.

The bot had launched himself off the ground and into the air. His mind panicked. What toys did he have left? Line. Knife. Pistols – ineffective. Electric disk – _Electric disk!_ His good hand instantly slipped to his utility belt, letting his injured arm flop tenderly to his side, his face grimacing at the pain underneath his mask. Within a moment, his arm was spread out into the air fully flexed. A small sleek disk cut the air, landing firmly on the chest of the bot. A second later, he could hear and see the sparks of electricity pulsating through the bots body. It halted mid-air, swan diving head first into the pavement in front of him, the metal of its frame scraping awkwardly against the concrete. The whites of its eyes slowly died, fading to black.

He huffed, relieved. He swept his injured arm up again, pressing it against his chest. He stepped forward towards the bot cautiously. Anger boiled inside him suddenly. Swiftly, he switched his weight to his left foot as his right foot backed into the air behind him. With as much force as he could muster, he thrust his foot forward in to the side of the bots face. It went airborne, crashing into the brick wall behind it. It crumpled to the ground into a sickening position, too awkward for any human to pull.

A growl escaped his throat, a mix of frustration and pain. Who made these things? Why were they here? What did they want? He looked from his latest target to the other bots, scattered across the pavement, all down the long and hidden back alley behind him. Their robotic parts had been ripped, torn and shredded into pieces. However the remains of only four bots were located in the same alley X was standing in. The others were smashed and strewn across various locations they had battled over the past fifteen minutes. The adrenaline was dying down; the throbbing pain in his shoulder was becoming excruciating now. He needed help. He snorted, somehow hoping that would help, distract him or do something for this pain. His free hand awkwardly went to his ear, struggling to still support his shoulder in the stoop that had been created by his uninjured arm.

The pressure of his forearm pressing against his injured arms wrist made the hidden digital clock on his wrist glow white. 2.47am. He licked his teeth noticing the numbers. He was pissed, partly because one of the bots had pretty much dislocated his shoulder, partly because it took him sixteen minutes to take nine robots down.

His index finger touched the edge of his lobe outside the fabric of his suit. "D," was the all that escaped his mouth.

Instantly, the ring tone of his communicator began.

_Ring, ring, ring, ring…_

He sighed. His partner was becoming more and more unreliable these days.

_Ring, ring, ring, ring…_

"Fucking hell, David," he cursed angrily, pressing his lobe again, hanging up.

It looked like he'd have to find another way home.

_888_

He ripped off his mask with his good hand. The mask squelched between his digits, as the same arm scooped up the other, cradling it. He winced, feeling the small movements aggravate the pain in his shoulder. He kicked the door lightly with his steel toed boot, once then twice. His face twisted into a snarl as the pain began jolting down his arm. He paused, trying to hear for movement behind the door. Nothing. With a grunt, he kicked the door multiple times, with much more force.

"For fuck's sake, David!" his voice was gravelly and booming. It was lucky his friend owned the whole floor of the apartment building.

He gritted his teeth, the pain intensifying. His eyes squeezed shut as his forehead hit the door with a thud.

There was a faint crash behind the door. Movement. His head instantly left the wooden door, eager for the man's appearance.

He could finally hear his friends' voice resonate behind the wood. "What the fuck is wrong-" the door was pulled open.

His friend was dressed merely in a pair of silk batman boxes. If it weren't for the situation Jason was in, he would be all over the ironic piece of clothing. His toned body was exposed, and like Jason, it was covered in scar tissue.

David's tired blue eyes changed to serious instantly suddenly registering that Jason was dressed in his uniform at the front door roof his apartment. "What happened?" The question was blunt and commanding. This was only the third this had happened in their five year partnership.

The maskless vigilante pushed his way past David with his good shoulder. "I've dislocated my fucking shoulder!" The reply was agitated. "I tried calling you!"

The dirty blonde haired man stumbled into the large and modern lounge, looking for something to sit on. The large sweeping black leather couch in front of him was his first choice.

"Lay on the," the door slammed, followed by a loud click, "coffee table," David finished his command.

The black suited man's eyes scouted the room, the pain distorting his attention and vision. There it was, a few metres from the couch, long, wide and made of glass. Before he could even attempt to leap over the couch, he could feel David grip the back of his suit, going for the invisible zip hidden underneath two layers of black fabric. Quickly, the zip was yanked downwards, exposing his bare back. David was then in front of him, reaching over the blonde's shoulders to grab the back of his uniform. His face was tense, concentrating hard.

Once his friend had hold of the two flaps of fabric, he looked him in the eye. "Okay, Jase," he warned, his voice cautious. Jason let out a long and huffed breath of air. His eyes slid closed. The fabric was yanked over his shoulder, jerking it only slightly. He grimaced, but didn't exhale. The pain wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. He opened his eyes and David was already leaping over the couch, heading for the glass table. The tight black suit still clung to his body, the uniform to his waist hung sloppily down in front of him. He scrambled over the couch, one armed.

He slipped onto the coffee table, his bare back arching slightly at the coolness of the glass. David was already there beside him, the saddened smile on his face somewhat comforting. He knew what he was doing, so did Jason. They had done this many times. David was in a lunge, one knee on the carpeted floor. He gripped his partners forearm, ready.

_888_

He blinked for the 28th time that minute. He was staring at his laptop screen, sitting in front of him on his sleek black desk. It was late – or early, whatever. He looked to the digital clock on the bottom right hand corner of his screen. 6.28am. He blinked again. He hadn't slept. He should've been dead to the world with all the drugs he had pumping through his system. However, the opposite effect had taken place. Instead of heading home and rolling around in the large king size bed, he decided that going home and decoding the robotic mystery of a few hours prior would be more beneficial. However, drugs and logical thinking weren't a good mix. A word document with three words: Highly Intelligent Robots – in italics of course, and one window of internet explorer were the outcomes of his sleepless night.

He refreshed the internet page again with a double click of his wireless mouse. Finally it changed. He had to blink, twice and then move his face closer to the screen. finally had a new headline.

_Return of the Titans._

He swallowed, the picture finally making sense to him. It was the Titans alright. Nightwing stood dead centre, _as always_, Starfire to his left and then Beast Boy. Cyborg was on his right and then, Raven. His lips rose into a soft smile. She looked how he remembered in that suit. Serious and dark with a twist of sexy. That was something that he never noticed, until she saved his life. The smile dropped off his face instantly. His eyes shifted into soft focus, thoughtful. The images blurred as he squinted slightly. He wished he had taken more notice of her back then. If he knew then what he knew now, both of their lives might have been easier. Maybe not easier, considering their livelihoods, but maybe, at least, different. He shifted his weight slightly forward, signally a change of thought quickly. But he was young, brash and stupid. All he wanted was fame, riches and bitches.

His eyes snapped back into focus, looking straight at her slightly pixelated portrait. She was caught without her hood on. Her long dark hair cascaded over her shoulder with her matching eyes smouldering, without giving anything away. Her cloak covered her petite frame, making her somewhat camouflaged to the grey background of battered buildings and debris behind her.

He sighed, letting his gaze drop. He reached for the sling supporting his arm, readjusting it slightly with a tug to the right. He wasn't entirely sure why he did that, maybe to try and distract himself from this weird mood he had suddenly found himself in. He looked back to the bright screen. She was still there, giving off that same sensual look, always without meaning to.

Something niggled at him. He was positive it was something he would never often admit to. He never really had to because she was always around, always attending to him, always here. He missed her. A whole lot too.

His good hand went from the mouse to his iPhone, next to the laptop.

His thumb quickly rushed across the metaphoric keys.

_Congratulations, heroine. _

He let his phone fall from his hand and thud onto the desk. Slowly, he let his body crumple, his chair sliding back, allowing his head to rest on the desk to the left of the laptop. He closed his eyes, finally feeling the effects of the drugs quite suddenly. She flashed through his mind, vividly and strangely surrealistic. Her long hair draped down her back and shoulders, straight and free. She was dressed in a black singlet and some matching black pants. She was sitting upright on the bed, tangled in the mess of doona and sheets. She didn't look tired – just content. She was watching him undress and slide into the bed. She then rolled over to switch off the light and nestled herself back under the covers. His eyes opened, the vision vanishing.

He missed that, especially on nights like these. He was pissed, exhausted and in pain. All he wanted was for her to fawn over him in worry, give him a kiss and stay up with him all night – and maybe heal him – that would be a giant bonus. He knew she'd probably pay him out and offer witty jokes that he wasn't in the right state of mind to offer an equally witty reply. However, he also knew how much she valued silence, and that's what he wanted – company without being social.

He could feel the pain in his shoulder slowly began to ache dully again.

He let a long breath escape him. He felt so pathetic – such a weird feeling to him. They were hardly a part. He wanted her company so badly. It was such a first world problem – missing your girlfriend, who just happened to be a superhero - something he would probably never comprehend. Usually work would keep him busy, but every second thought was of her lately. Now he had busted his shoulder and was out of action, leaving him unable to work, those thoughts of her would only increase.

_I_

_His smile faded as his eyes turned serious. The glistening greens of his eyes were bright and full. His dirty blonde hair swayed shaggily over his forehead. She could smell the sweat still caked on him, something oddly enticing. His lips pursed slightly before parting, ready to release words._

_He stopped. His eyes stayed on hers. The adrenaline was still pumping thick through his veins. _

"_What?" she quizzed softly, her eyes darting frantically over him._

_He stayed silent, his eyes still locked on hers._

"_Jase," she pleaded, but still soft._

"_I don't want to scare you," he revealed quickly almost cutting her off as his eyes broke contact with her._

_She raised an eyebrow. "You almost died today.." she trailed off, her tone caked with a sarcasm._

_His look stayed serious. Her look faded realising her sarcasm wasn't well received. _

_He looked back at her after a moment._

I love you.

_She froze. _Did he really just think that?_ She instantly pulled away, her mind swimming. She sat up, dead straight. _

_I_

He could hear the ring of the skype tone. He instantly straightened, his chair rolling across the floor boards as his hand went for the mouse and his mind breaking from the memory.

_Raven is calling you…_

He clicked the mouse to accept and the mask came back on. He was cool, calm and collected again. It was like he forgotten what it was like without her. She was here, now and that was all that mattered to him.

The screen enlarged, revealing her porcelain face. Her eyes were darkened with purple bags, a sign of no sleep. Despite her amythest eyes looking dazed somewhat, probably a mix of the sleepiness and adrenaline she was feeling, they were still bright. Her dark hair was now tied back into what looked like a messy bun at the crown of her head. Her thick lips tugged into a small smile as her eyebrows rose slightly, content.

"Morning Sunshine," that playful tone soaked his words. It made her smile extend, her straight white teeth poking out through her pink lips.

_888_

She rounded the corner and it was exactly who she expected. Dick. He was already looking at her, his expression warm. She didn't think she made that much noise, but she had to remind herself that he'd been on his own for the last five years. Noise other than his own was usually an intruder.

The bright light from the laptop resting on his lap lit his face perfectly. His eyebrows rose and knitted together, making some sort of concerned face. There was no need to state what they were thinking. They both couldn't sleep. They were both still running on adrenaline. Neither of them were tired. They both already knew.

She was the first to speak. "What are you doing?" The question was genuine.

He was still looking at her. "Surfing the net," he replied simply.

He was cuddled up in the corner, his legs outstretched with his right foot over the other. His back was pressed up against the wall with his shoulder pressed up against the other adjoining wall and his laptop rested on his lap. His hands and fingers pulled away from the keyboard, resting by his sides. He was only dressed in, what looked like, a pair of long basketball shorts. She couldn't tell what colour they were.

A smile came to her lips. Dick didn't just surf the net – well he did obviously, but it was such an odd thing for him to _just do_ at six something in the morning. Then again, she was_ just_ exploring at six something in the morning. He smiled too.

"Does that amuse you?"

Her smiled stayed. "Oddly," she contemplated for a moment, her smile vanishing for only a second, "yes."

His smile grew bigger.

Impulsively she moved closer to him, stepping onto the wooden staircase. It only housed about six steps before it flattened out onto the platform that Dick was sitting on. He watched as she glided up the stairs and turned, pressing her back against the same wall as his. Slowly, her back glided down the smooth wall until her bottom touched wood. She looked to the screen of the laptop.

He really had been just googling. A couple of windows were opened, detailing a variety of topics. Something about a Maserati GranTurismo something. Personal email inbox, detailing something to do with building. The last tab was quite interesting, named Greek Mythology and was expanded on the screen. _'Laying in the dark with glowing hearts, you held on tight and told me that-'_

"Do you mind?" he queried light heartedly his eyes wide and his eyebrows raised.

Her eyes snapped to his face, that smile still making her face glow. "Not at all," she began, "early birthday presents?"

He rolled his eyes, shutting the laptop swiftly. "No," he started firmly, "I just want a new car."

"A Maserati?"

"I have a reputation to keep, Rae," He reminded her, joking in a pompous tone. "It keeps Bruce happy."

She scoffed, her eyesight changing lines away from him. She wasn't sure what she was looking at – the out of focus staircase in front of her maybe. She just didn't want to look back at him. She knew he was watching her intently.

His gazing obviously wasn't taking her attention. "What were you doing?"

"Exploring," her response was quick and feminine. She still kept her eyes on the stair in front of her that lead to the next level.

She felt something touch her thigh. Her head snapped downwards. His hand was resting on her upper thigh. Her heart went into overdrive, skipping instantly into a hectic beat. She could feel something pulse through her. It was energetic, but calm. It was so loving and full of emotion. It was so familiar and so comforting. Her eyes slowly slid shut. It all intensified, the images accentuating the feeling. Waves lapped in her mind, like the sea against the sand. There was a green tinge to the image. The warmth was beginning to flow through her limbs as the image became more vivid, slowly transforming into what seemed to be a waterfall. The way the green images moved was so delicate and innate, like smoke wafting into the air. Then it all seemed like déjà vu.

"Good work last night, Raven," his characteristic voice broke her from the feeling and image instantly, her eyes snapping open like shutters.

She looked up toward him. She didn't know what to say. But obviously her face was saying it all for her as he instantly removed his hand and his face turned awkward. "Sorry," the apology was quiet, but intense, his eyes severe. He knew what he had done. She wasn't sure if it was intentional or not, but she didn't want to stick around to find out.

She was already on her feet, speeding down the stairs with as much grace as she could muster and her mind whirling. She could hear him fumble noisily behind her.

"I saw you with Gar in the garden."

That stopped her dead in her tracks, right in the door frame. What was that supposed to mean? Her head moved so only one side of her face poked past the wooden frame. Her face was stoic for a moment, before her brow furrowed, demeaning and irritated. He was on his feet, defiantly standing, with his laptop strewn on the wooden platform beside him. She could see him exhale slowly and deeply.

"We apologised," the reply was stone cold.

"Oh," he sucked in a breath. She could see it on his face. He knew exactly what he had done. The regret was slowly seeping onto his features. He dropped his gaze to her feet.

"Maybe you should do the same."

And she was gone.

_888_

She almost sprinted down the hall, her feet padding softly against the wooden floor. What the fuck was that about? He was touching her leg, then sending her those feelings and images and then talking about her and Beast Boy. Insanely weird. It was all.. not Dick like.

Why was she being all girlish out about it? She was running of as if she were ashamed. She was a grown woman with a boyfriend. She knew what she was doing. She could control the situation. She could put him back in his place. Tell him to stop crossing that line. But she didn't. Her face fell into despair.

Why did she let him send that feeling? She could've blocked it.. but she didn't. She didn't do anything! If he hadn't of said anything she still would've been there, enjoying those vivid imaginations. It was all just so stupid of her.

Angrily, she gripped the door handle of her door and swiftly pushed the door open. She slipped through the gap before spinning on her heel and quietly shutting the door behind her with her hands outstretched. Her eyes slipped shut. The slightly green coloured images of the seaside came back to her.

They weren't imaginations.

Her eyes slowly opened, the dark wooden door engulfing all of her vision.

It was a real place. Something they had shared together, but she couldn't remember where or when. Or maybe she didn't want to remember. That thought made her swallow hard.

She raced to her bed, slipping underneath the sheets and cover, not even bothering to change her attire, despite knowing that fact that wouldn't sleep at all. She couldn't with that weird moment circling around in her brain.

She rolled over, her laptop conveniently sitting next to her from the morning prior. A slender hand snaked across the covers to lift the top of the laptop upwards. The screen came to life. She hadn't turned it off. She sighed. She needed something to keep her busy, to keep her mind occupied.

_Jason._

Her thoughts fled. She needed to talk to Jason.

With a few clicks on the mouse pad, skype was enlarged and taking over her entire screen. He was online, thank God.

A double click and..

_Calling Jason…_

Not a moment later, his content and fatigued face flashed upon the screen.

And everything seemed to all of a sudden feel okay.

_888_

He wound the bandage around his palm five times before he moved to his knuckles and upper fingers. He tucked the remaining bandage into the wound bandage of his palm. It was too late to sleep now – besides he wouldn't be able to after what had just happened.

He got to his feet, unenthused. His mind was too occupied to focus on anything.

Why did he do that? Why? He touched her leg and was thinking about the past, and then he even asked about Beast Boy. The grimace was visible on his face. It was a huge giant mess. He knew what he was doing; he just wasn't sure why he did it. She had a boyfriend. She was happy. She didn't need anything else. Especially him complicating everything that really couldn't be complicated. Why was he making everything so difficult for himself.

Angrily, his arm rose and landed a swift and hard punch to the black boxing bag hanging by a chain from the ceiling.

He crossed the line and he couldn't pull himself back – and that was very unlike him.

Another three rapid punches dug into the bag, making it swing wide.

But she didn't stop him either.

His arms dropped to his sides.

She didn't stop him. She ran off.

He sucked in a breath. There was nothing there. He had to keep telling himself that. There had never been anything there. He was just making something out of nothing.

Quickly, his mind paused in thought as both his arms rose, positioned ready for a fight. Just as quickly, his arms delivered numerous swift and lethal punches, hooks and uppercuts.

He stopped suddenly.

He had almost forgotten her last words. His brow furrowed, confused.

_Maybe you should do the same._


	15. Memoria

_A/n: Just to reassure you I'm not dead and in the middle of a giant writers block, I give you this ;). You would not believe how much of a struggle this was.  
>Anddd, I'm really sorry :(. I said I would be more on top of this one, and I'm not, but I'm trying! If it helps.. I'm updating on my birthday ;).. and I promise an extra long update next time. Hold me to it!<em>

_As always, thanks for the beautiful reviews. They really do mean the world to me :)._

_Disclaimer: Don't own._

_Please.. read and review._

**_Enjoy! _**

* * *

><p><strong><em>Reconcile<em>**

_Chapter Fifteen: Memoria._

_She studies him slowly._

_He looks dishevelled and thrown together. Straight out of the uniform, she presumes. His dark denim jeans are crumpled, extremely obvious even in the dim light. His dark grey shirt shows signs of the miserable weather outside, dotted heavily with water marks. His dark, almost black jacket hangs off his shoulders, looking two sizes too big. His hair is slicked back into a pony tail due to its length – something she hates. It looks shiny and wet, almost greasy, another indicator that he was freshly out of the cowl. His eyes are that vivid crystal blue; light and bright. She can see the adrenaline pumping through him alone in those emotionally full irises. _

_The rest of his face is stoic, a habit from a young age. She can see his thick lips twitch ever so slightly. It's an indication that he's about to speak, but unexpectedly, he doesn't. He stays silent too. His eyes focus on hers. She looks away instantly, not wanting to get caught up so early. She sees the adrenaline affecting the rest of his body. His exposed hands at the end of his sleeves are tinged slightly with pink. His usually hidden veins are exploding beneath the skin and are coloured a pale blue. The protruding veins snake down towards his fingers, looking far from human._

_She looks better than he does, dressed down in a pair of blue jeans and creamy coloured throw over knit. Juxtaposed to the man standing opposite her, she has attempted to hide her inner turmoil. Her luscious, long, burning fire orange hair flops almost perfectly to one side. However all her effort is undone as her face conveys something different, worse – if it were possible – than the dark haired man looks. Her eyes are that dull olive green, sunken and tired. She looks exhausted and drained. Her body language is slack and lethargic. Her signature content look has been replaced with a solemn one. _

_His chest moves slowly beneath the layers of clothing, inhaling more oxygen than he normally would. _

_They stay silent for another long, agonizing and equally crucial minute. She licks her lips, coating them before she inhales. She hopes the courage will come to her, impulsively making her speak. But it doesn't come. She's left with her mouth parted and two lungs full of air._

_She sees and hears him swallow. His Adams apple slides up and down at lightning speed. She can see something flicker in his eyes. It makes her exhale sharply. She wasn't sure what it was, but it was something she had never, ever seen before._

"_Dick," it slips from her mouth like she hoped it would. But it sounds less strong and hopeful, more broken and faint._

_The corner of his lip twitches. She wants him to speak, so she doesn't have to. But as she predicts, he doesn't. He knows exactly what's going on and she can see it clearly on his face. His eyebrows drop only a fraction and his mouth parts just the same – hardly an indicator, but his beautiful blue eyes give it away._

_Her expression breaks, her eyebrows rising and her eyes flood with sadness. She promised herself she wouldn't do this. She had to stay strong. She swallows this time, but it doesn't help her. It makes something rise in her chest and stay there, stuck, jammed.. clogged. _

"_I can't do this anymore, Dick."_

_It stabs the air like a knife jabbing through skin. _

_It adds intensity to the silence surrounding them. At first he doesn't move, almost like he's frozen. Then it sinks in. He falters for a moment. It's so clear and succinct; like he's shuddering on the inside.__IsH__ His mask breaks and sorrow floods his features, creating lines on his forehead and his jaw to drop. She wishes she hadn't seen that. She wishes she had closed her eyes. The lines on his forehead disappear, his jaw slinks back together and a stoic gaze decorates those magnificent blue eyes. The mask instantly returns, as if it had never left. _

_The silence continues, and so does his gaze. _

_She can feel that _thing_ in her chest rise even further, claggier and heavier than before. It makes her eyes well up, the salty water beginning to pool at her bottom eyelids. She's not sure how long she can hold it._

_Still nothing as her expression slips into desperation. She waits for his look to change. She's searching for something, something other than that mask that he almost permanently has on._

"_Say something.. please.." the words tumble from her mouth._

_She wants that something she saw only a few moments ago. She wants that emotion._ _It was so organic and heartfelt. She wants that rawness that she never, ever sees from him. _

_It takes a moment, but he replies. "What do you want me to say?" There's nothing behind the words. No emotion whatsoever. _

_Anger suddenly boils inside of her, and it spreads through her body, becoming rigid and strained. The tears begin to spill almost immediately. "Something!" Her hoarse yell sends them both into silence again. It doesn't seem to startle him though. His demeanour stays calm._

"_I need something, Dick," she reiterates, her voice almost a quarter of what it was only moments ago. She realises that anger is useless._

_He breaks his gaze and it drops to the floor. He doesn't want to see her break. He's already seen enough of that over the past year. However, he knows that tonight.. it's inevitable. "I don't know what to say," his reply is almost inaudible._

_The tears are now streaming down her cheeks, rolling down with such speed that they don't even pause to pool at her chin before dropping. "How can you not know, Dick?" The question comes out higher than she expects it to, trying to stop her voice from breaking._

_He looks up and she sees his expression drop. He only just noticed she's almost beside herself in tears. He's not sure what do, but impulsively he steps closer to her, his hand reaching out. She steps back, fearing that touch could break her. He pauses._

"_How can you not know?" She questions again, sounding so close to breaking._

_He swallows, his face finally giving into expression. It fades into empathy. His eyebrow knit together and those blue eyes dissolve into regret. He realises his hand is still outstretched. He lets it drop, flopping to his side with a light slap against the fabric of his jeans._

"_I," he begins as his eyes look elsewhere, trying to sort himself out, "just don't know, Kori."_

_Silence._

"_It's Slade all over again," it just slips from her mouth._

_He looks directly at her. His expression flickers quickly to anger, his eyes turning to slits._

_She hit a nerve and she knew it. She was planning on it. _

_She can see the anger boiling up inside, ready to explode. That's what she wants. She wants to see something other than that mask. That 'Batman' mask, as it's known as. She wants to see him get angry; she wants him to lose it. She wants him to lose that control that holds him all perfectly in place. His eyes stay glued on her. His chest rises quickly and falls equally the same. This pattern continues. His hands twitch for a second before they clench into fists, the veins beginning to show again. _

_His eyes are still slits. "Don't," is the growling response. It's forced and clunky, as he tries so hard to keep himself in check. _

_He's so close and she's craving his response. She wants that raving anger that she's seen him unleash many times before. That's the only emotion he can easily project._

_She pushes harder, seeing his anger fade. "Fight for me, Dick," her command is blunt and harsh. Her face is swollen and red from the tears._

_The contrasting view of her furious eyes and the waterfall of tears make something in him ache. He never meant for this to happen. He never meant to hurt someone like this. _

_He shifts his weight, far beyond uneasy. He's not sure what to say. He wants to fight for her, but for some unknown reason, the motivation doesn't come. "I.."_

"_Fight for me, please!" Her blood curling scream halts him. It's deep and raspy, filled with desperation and a hint of pleading. It makes his heartache. It makes his skin crawl. _

_He swallows, trying to shake that scream repeating in his head. His skin continues to crawl, sending shivers down his spine as it constantly echoes in his mind. _

"_Star-" his saliva clogged throat begins, but she cuts him off instantly._

"_Star?!" The nickname only angers her more. Her eyes begin to glow that vivid, emerald green._

_He brushes a hand through his hair, an indication of the young man losing his grip on the situation. He realises anything that he says isn't going to change the outcome of tonight. They're going to break up. _Forever.

_Then it happens. She crumbles._

_Her knees give way and body collapses, crashing into the fluffy carpet below. That bubble in her chest rises painfully to its peak, before it releases, letting agonizing sobs rip from her throat. _

_His gentle touch is suddenly scooping her up. She feels his warm limbs cradle her like a beloved broken toy. Her head presses against something rough and - she can feel it – his heart. It's not normal, beating at a higher rate._

_He pulls her tight to him, and it only makes her worse. She can feel the tears soaking the rough fabric of his jacket. She can feel excess mucus oozing out of her nose and she's well aware of how unattractive it is, but she can't stop. She can't pull away either. His touch is so soft, gentle, and something that comes so naturally to him, calm._

_They stay like this for a few minutes. It's like the old days. He's stroking her fiery auburn hair with his rough hands with such care. His hands wrap around her gorgeous frame with such compassion. He cradles her as if she were a child. She lathers it up while she has the chance, because she knows that this will never happen again after tonight. _

_The sobs slowly die down as she clams. Something within her is suddenly curious and her strength builds. Her head pokes out of his jacket. She needs something answered before she finally decides what her next move is._

"_Do you love me?"_

"_Of course," the response is quick and automatic. It sounds genuine, but she can't tell anymore._

_She pulls away from him, the tears beginning again. He reaches to pull her back in, to keep her under control, but her strength is too much for him. His arms are swatted away easily as her powerful legs push her body across the floor and away from him._

"_Do you really love me?" Her eyes are hard and questioning._

_Suddenly there's frustration propelling through him, and with such speed. She doubts him, and he hates that. He hates doubt. He hates that he has to constantly defend himself to everyone. He hates that lack of faith, that luck of trust. "Of course I do!" There's bite in his words as he gets to his feet swiftly. His fists clench as he turns away from her. _

_He feels his phone vibrate in his pocket and his hand digs into the denim fabric with force. His hand grips the vibrating gadget tightly and yanks it from its home. _

_Finally he breaks – something she actually doesn't expect, and it all happens so fast. _

_His left foot steps forward as his gadget wielding hand rises behind him. He snaps, the hand propelling the device across room with such force that it collides with the wall and crumbles into several pieces. The pieces clatter to the floor. He doesn't let the silence claim them again, "Of course I fucking love you!" the response is strained, heart wrenching._

_He sees her face – completely stunned. Her eyes are wide, her mouth parted. She's frozen. It's what she wants, but it doesn't satisfy her craving._

_His expression fades from pulsating fury to complete shock. His eyes widen as it all clicks into place. It all makes sense._

"_But it's not enough is it?" Now he sounds broken. _

_A long silence settles around them._

_It's a moment before she speaks._

"_No, it's not."_

_I_


	16. Tension

_I'm so sorry. It's been such a long time._

_But I have this for you :D! I assure you that I will never forget about this little gem, it's too close to my heart._

_I hope you're all well and doing what you love._

_Disclaimer: Don't own the Teen Titans._

_And, as always, watch out for mistakes.. and the ending, it's a little rough._

_Read, review and enjoy :)_

_~Aa_

* * *

><p><strong>Reconcile<strong>

Chapter Sixteen: Tension

Depression. Such a long, heavy and twisted state. She felt unmotivated, drained and a complete lack concentration. She couldn't believe how much that vision had affected her. She had felt something similar, a long time ago, just after the Titans split. It was like her whole world had crumbled and there was absolutely nothing to catch her. It felt like the absolute bottom of human life. It felt like there was nothing to live for.

She had been there, numerous times during her life. From the moment she was born, she knew she had nothing to live for. She was a portal, nothing more. A complex being with such an intelligent mind and deep beneath, a beautiful heart, but she was destined to be a key role in destroying the earth. That was something she lived with everyday up until she was sixteen years old. Until a small ray of hope within four people, especially one, changed all of that.

It was so confusing to think that the one with the most hope and support could also create the opposite – a deep state of depression – within someone else.

She couldn't believe that Dick, of all people, made her – bright and bubbly Koriand'r, feel like _that_. Such a soul crushing feeling that seemed to last for over a year. It made Raven's heart ache that such a close friend was experiencing that _every day_ without anyone there. Without that little ray of hope that she had, on numerous times, received herself.

She blinked; unknowingly she had been staring into the distance. Koriand'r had willingly shared selected memories of the past five years with Raven. Some were of Peter – the new love of her life, but mostly they contained Dick. Some of them were absolutely beautiful, but the later memories were filled with anguish and sorrow.

The last vision, the last time Kori had ever seen Dick, was the most shocking. It was just so heart wrenching. Koriand'r, despite being one tough woman, often wore her heart on sleeve and felt more emotionally than others. It allowed her to project her emotions clearer to others, especially Raven – who was finding it terribly difficult to shake this particular state.

She knew wondering around the corridors of Dick's lavish mansion at this time of night probably wasn't the greatest idea she'd had, considering there was a high chance she would run into him, who she hadn't spoken to in almost 24 hours. But she wasn't about to call her drugged up and injured boyfriend for the second night in a row to calm her down. However, she did have her phone in her hand, and the situation would no doubt end in a phone call to Jason.

She wasn't sure where she was going; every hall in the mansion looked almost exactly the same.

She could feel that familiar niggle she almost always got in the pit of her stomach, knowing she wasn't meant to be here right now. Something was going to happen and she could feel it. She had tried to tell herself that he would be asleep right now. He went out on patrol with Gar and Victor earlier in the evening. If he wasn't sleeping.. he'd be in his study.. working on the new case.. on Slade and his new apprentice. _Yeah, for sure._

She froze. She could feel him – and he was close. Her brows furrowed together in regret - why didn't she just go back to her bedroom?

Her head snapped upwards, looking directly at him.

He was dressed in black, matching his sweat pants to his tee. His look was tentative, unsure of his next move.

She wasn't sure if he accidentally ran into her, or purposely ran into her, but she didn't want to find out. She spun quickly on her heel, gunning for the opposite direction. She wished she had some idea of where she was going. All she could see was door after door after door. They all looked the same. She could hear him quickening his pace, beginning to run. She matched his pace, as her eyes searched for something vaguely familiar so she knew where she was.

Out of the dark and dingy hallway appeared a 'T' – left or right.

"Raven!" He called. He was getting closer.

She made a sharp left, hoping that was the right decision. Her eyes rummaged through her surroundings trying to develop a plan. She knew she was outwitted in this situation. Dick lived here; Dick knew the corridors like the back of his palm. No matter which way she turned, he'd eventually be one step ahead of her.

"Raven!" He was so close – probably only a few metres away.

She couldn't deal with this right now. Her mind was spinning after their last encounter, mixing Kori's memory just adding fuel to the fire.

"Raven."

Her eyes widened as she turned. He was right behind her. His blue eyes were bright and determined. His hand flew out towards her, she stepped back and – her eyes faded to a glowing, bright white. His hand swiped out to grab her, but it was too late. His hand went straight through her, like an apparition or hologram. Black pooled beneath her frame and she sunk into it – disappearing before Dick's eyes.

_888_

Jason sighed audibly, but only enough for him, David and Joseph to hear. He hated meetings, which David knew all too well, so he usually took the reins. David ignored his attempts to distract, but Joseph took the bait, looking at him with a bored face, almost identical to his own. Jason looked down at his watch. The meeting began over 45 minutes ago. He looked back at Joseph who was doing some kind of charades thing. He was pointing downwards. Jason frowned hard in response, confused. Joseph lifted his arm and pointed again.

"So what does this mean, _guys_?" the voice was loud, obviously trying to interrupt the two misfits in conversation. Jason looked up and across the dark wooden table at the man with the scruffy dark hair dressed dashingly in a suit, the numbers man – also known as Ryan, who didn't look too impressed.

David rolled his eyes, looking to Joseph, who in turn smiled. "It means we have to be smart, idiot."

"Slow down on the trades, be careful who you trust, be a little more inconspicuous" Jason paused, fiddling with his sling, "and don't do anything stupid." He looked to the other nine members present at the table.

This was their team, kind of like a board of directors, if you were comparing this to an actual_ legal_ business. They were all from different walks of life, specializing in different areas of the business. Most of them were from the money side of it all, dealing with all the accounts, finances and trades – stopping them from being busted in financial world. However, there were a couple of scientists and I.T experts who dealt with the, as you would call it, more important things, like what they actually traded.

"We're beefing up our security," David looked down at his notes below him on the table, "so you'll just have to deal with a couple of extra people around while you work."

"We've emailed you a list of contacts, with their respective titles and the radius which they work in," he could see a majority of the members already pulling out their phones to check, "but you know the drill, everything goes through Jason and me. Any emergencies, call or page us," he paused to make sure it had all sunken in. They all nodded. "Alright, good!"

Jason looked to David and then to Joseph, bringing his good hand to his mouth and coughing. "Oh!" David exclaimed a little overexcited, "we'd like you all to meet Joseph," his hand motioned to the dark haired young adult next to them, "he's our new," he took a second to think of the title, "apprentice, so he'll be with us most of the time, getting savy with all the ways in which this business works."

Most of the faces at the table nodded, along with a smile and there were a couple of waves too. "You'll get personal introductions when we go each department," he looked directly at Joseph, "I think we've been in this meeting long enough," his attention turned to Jason, both of them donning a sly smile.

"Alright, talk to you all soon," he looked back to the table, offering a warm smile to all of their employees, "meeting adjourned."

Instantly the chatter began as the various heads of each department took their notes and stood. Some of them waved and offered their own personal goodbyes to David and Jason as they all shuffled slowly out the door.

David rose, following the last of employees to the door. He slowly shut the door behind them before turning to look back at Jason and Joseph.

The apprentice is the first to speak, "I feel like this is a bigger problem than what you're letting on."

"It is," Jason replied quickly with a cheeky smile.

David sighed, "It's a huge problem, but we can't worry them," his tone serious as he made his way back to his respective seat, "otherwise we could rock the foundations, and that leaves us very vulnerable."

"Has anyone owned up to it?" Joseph questioned his brown eyes thoughtful.

David shook his head, "We have no idea who it is, or what they want." David shot Jason a quick look. They both know that last part was a lie – a big fat one too, but Joseph wasn't ready for that yet. David pulled a folded piece of paper from his right pant pocket. Both of his hands gripped the paper, unfolding it quickly, before passing it to Joseph.

"Who got this photo?" Joseph gripped the photograph, taking another good look at it.

It was a slightly blurred photo of one of the robots Jason had dealt with last night. It had been taken in action obviously, the bot was caught mid-air, in some weird squat position, but it gave enough detail for them to be able to stumble onto some leads.

David smiled, and then looked knowingly at Jason, who was also smiling. "We have friends in high places," Jason replied eloquently.

The younger dark hair man nodded, but a puzzled look covered his face. "You'll find out one day," David reassured him before moving along quickly, "Anyway, Joe, I think we've rattled your brain enough today. We'll see you tomorrow at 9," Joe collected his papers before swooping up his brown satchel, "we'll be starting with fiances," David matched his jokingly sarcastic tone with an overenthusiastic wink.

Joseph laughed, "I'll make sure I bring my calculator."

"Good plan," David replied, adding a genuine smile.

Joseph was already at the door before he turned back, gripping the door handle, "oh, Jason, I forgot to ask how you hurt your arm."

Jason was quick to reply, "Dislocated it," he snapped his head to look straight at David, "You can blame your other boss for that one," his eyes widened, boring into David's jestingly.

David chuckled, "he deserved it."

Joseph cringed, offering a sympathetic, "Ouch."

"Yeah, major ouch," Jason agreed as his eyebrows jumped to emphasize the 'ouch'.

"Catch you two tomorrow," Joseph offerred a final wave before backing out the door.

"Seeya Joe," the two chorused together.

The two waited in silence, they're eyes glued to the door, until they could hear Joseph's foodsteps fade. "This is a bigger problem than we thought, Jase," David admitted, his tone wary.

"Yeah I know," he agreed, matching David's tone.

"It doesn't help that you're out of action either," his fair haired colleague added, getting to his feet.

"I'm not out of action," Jason defended, "I'll be fine to get back on the streets tomorrow night."

David scoffed, almost laughing, "Uh, no you won't," he stepped closer, "As much as you're going to hate it, you're benched."

Jason rose immediately, his temper flaring. "How are we going to protect our business then?"

"I don't know, Jase!" he put his hand on his friends chest, "Calm down."

Jason stepped sideways from his friends hand, gliding round his chair, hoping the space would calm his nerves. "We'll figure it out, Jase."

The dirty blonde haired man didn't bother turning to look at his business partner. His mind fled, looking at his other options. He could go back into the field, and risk an 80% chance of dislocating his shoulder again. He could call Raven, but she was over 600 kilometres away, and her healing didn't really cover 'tightening and strengthening' muscles.

Those were his two options, and that latter wasn't really an option.

"We could call in favours," David broke his train of thought, "you're not the only friend we have in high places." Jason turned, his face all tight and slightly distorted from thinking. "There's J-"

"David," Jason interrupted with a huff, "I don't think they're enough."

"What do you mean?" David looked bewildered for a moment.

"I don't think.." the injured man bit his bottom lip, his eyebrows hung low over his eyes in concern, "I just think that," he paused, unsure of the words coming out of his mouth, "this just feels wrong," he finally finished.

David's expression melted into something resembling comfort. "It's alright, Jase," he made his way towards the blonde, a hand out to comfortingly touch his shoulder. "We've got plenty of measures in place to keep us and it safe."

Jason sighed, his posture visibly sinking, "I know."

_888_

She slid into the room, looking down at the gem encased on her cloak, flashing that familiar bright red. The other four were already grouped around Dick's large computer screen, decorated in their respective outfits.

Vic was the first to catch the enchantress in the room. His face lit up, a smile on his lips, "there she is."

She hadn't been seen since breakfast. The others had searched for her numerous times, but had given up, presuming she wanted alone time – which is exactly what she wanted. Well sort of. She wanted to avoid Dick as much as she could. She wasn't up for playing happy families, but unfortunately she'd have to tonight.

The others all snapped their heads to look, smiles broke out on two faces, the third stayed stoic. She quickly joined them, her eyes glued to the large screen.

"Good to see you, Raven," The words were robotic and rehearsed. Her eyes moved to Dick who had put on a perfectly fake smile. Her expression didn't change.

There was a jab in her left side, presumably an elbow. "Where have you been all day?!" the question came from the overdramatic Garfield.

She looked to him, her expression calm, "Meditating."

His mouth parted into an 'o' as his eyebrows rose, as if he should've known, "riiiiight."

Raven turned her attention back to Dick, who seemed calm. "As I was saying," he paused, obviously for dramatic effect, "robbery on Bourke, between Exhibition and Spring."

Silence gripped them all. They were afraid to say it. Afraid that it might be true. Afraid that they tonight might be the night. Afraid that they might come face to face with Slade.

"Slade?" the enchantress questioned grimly.

Dick looked to her his expression revealing nothing. "Still to be confirmed."

"Starfire, Beast Boy and Raven," he ordered immediately, not even giving them time to ruminate over the possible situation, "go by air and see what we're dealing with," His head turned to look at Vic, "Cyborg and I will take the car." Vics' face lit up instantly, but Dick was already on the move, sweeping straight past Raven, not even bothering to look at her.

Vic followed hot on his heels, a little too eager. Beast Boy had already transformed his green frame in the shape of some sort of eagle type bird. Starfire looked to Raven, her body rising in the air slowly.

The enchantress nodded, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos."

_888_

Her feet were the last ones to touch the ground. The other two, Starfire and Beastboy, had already started towards the building. She could feel their fear, radiating off them in thick waves, however Starfire was much better at hiding it than Beastboy. She was almost at the door while the shape shifter lagged behind tentatively.

The building looked untouched, something that was always worrying in these types of situations. A perfectly normal and boring jump city building; grey, cement, black and more grey. Raven's hand slipped to her belt, retrieving the team communicator. She hoped that Cyborgs face would flash up on the screen, but she doubted it.

"Here," her feminine voice broke the silence, whispering close to the gadget.

She eyed the gadget, waiting for the reply. It was Nightwing, to her dismay, who appeared. "ETA, three minutes, go ahead," and he vanished.

She looked up as she stuffed the communicated back into her belt. The other two were staring at her, obviously waiting for approval to enter. She nodded.

Starfire turned, her right hand producing a small sphere of green energy. Carefully, her hand catapulted the green orb towards the lock on the door. The lock easily broke, allowing Starfire to push the door open with a gentle flick of her wrist.

Raven swiftly glided past Starfire across the room and directly over the large front counter that housed the buildings reception.

"Azarath metrion Zinthos," slipped quietly out of her mouth.

Her eyes lit up as her hands stretched out, her powers easily breaking the keypad lock to the door directly behind the counter. Her telekinesis turned the knob, allowing her to slip into almost pitch black room. She turned directly to her right, the buildings alarm system sat on the wall next to the door, exactly where Cyborg said it would be. With a wave of her fingers the keypad exploded into over a hundred little pieces, crumbling to the tiled floor below.

She slipped back through the small gap in the door, and gently pulled it shut behind her.

She nodded faintly across the foyer to the other two, who immediately stepped inside.

"Now where do we go?" Beast Boy questioned, taking a good look around the super sleek, ultra-modern entrance.

He looked back at Raven. Her hand rose through the slit in her cloak, her finger pointing downwards. "Down."

Beast Boy raised both of his eyebrows. "So.." he trailed off, unsure of their next move.

Raven looked to Starfire, who smiled knowingly. The two glided towards the set of four elevators all lined up in a row to the left of the foyer.

"Oh!" He exclaimed a little too loudly.

Raven floated into her usual meditating position, just as the last two members of the team entered the building.

"Raven," Nightwing began, "we need to know what level," he took a quick look at the elevators behind the enchantress, "and who and what we're dealing with."

She nodded, her eyes already beginning to glow. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos," the words were chanted from her mouth. A black mass exploded from her, Raven's soul self in the shape of the bird she was named after. As quickly as it appeared, it disappeared, diving backwards through the elevator doors, leaving her floating body behind.

Nightwing's eyes wondered over the other three standing around Raven's frame. Starfire's eyes were glazed over, lost in serious thought with a hand gingerly touching her chin while Beast Boy looked more interested in Raven's soulless, floating form. Finally, his eyes rested on Cyborg, who was looking back at him. He felt something swirl at the bottom of his stomach. Cyborg bit his bottom lip. He knew how nervous they all were.

Nightwing's attention quickly snapped back to Raven's lifeless form. He wasn't sure what do about her. She had avoided him since the incident, and now they were playing happy families in front of the other Titans. She needed time to maul these things over, but it was making him uneasy that it had been 48 hours without a single word.

His eyes caught sight of her black soul self escaping out of the gap in elevator doors. His body grew tense, quickly taking a look at the other three. Their eyes were wide, bodies braced. His sight switched back her, catching a glimpse of her soul self flooding back into her body.

Her eyes faded back to their natural amethyst colour, but were somewhat glazed over. Her expression switched immediately to fear, her eyes wide, and her mouth agape.

"Raven," Nightwing prodded carefully, "what did you see?"


End file.
